Agent Isabella Swan
by Amy McGee
Summary: Bella Swan in Washington DC! Working as a junior agent for the NCIS.. How will things work out for her.. Will she be able to finally get over the betrayal by the Cullens, and find true happiness? Rating might change in the later chapters! Not a Bella/Gibbs
1. Chapter 1

**AN : This is my first story guys… Please review… Oh, and anything recognizable is not owned by me! **

**BPOV**

Life bustled past me as i stared up at the building. The NCIS headquarters, Navy Yard, Washington DC. My first job... I swallowed slowly, terrified at the prospect of the long day ahead meeting new people, being the object of their attention. Yes, it wasn't the job that freaked me out. I have always been a very shy, quiet person. The only time i was ever comfortable was when i was with... "No Bella, forget them now. They have forgotten you years ago." So had I, to an extent. I don't think i could ever forget them completely... They will always be a part of me. Maybe not as important as earlier. But Edward will always be a part of me.

I took a deep breath and entered the building. After going through the necessary security check, I took the elevator and went for my briefing with Director Vance. He looked pretty stern, but I've heard rumors that he never smiles. So I'll try to not take it personally.

"Agent Isabella Swan"

"Just Bella, please"

"Very well then, Agent Bella Swan. You have worked for two years with the Forks Police Department. Your father was the sheriff there, am I right?"

I looked up at him. "Yes, sir"

"No wonder you come highly recommended"

My cheeks flushed in anger. "I was very good at my job Sir. My recommendation has nothing to do with the fact that I am the Chief of Police's daughter."

He looked at me and twitched his lips. Maybe trying for a smile. "Very well then. I will place you with one of our toughest agents present. You manage to gain his respect, you will gain mine"

"Yes sir. I'm looking forward to it"

"Please wait outside then."

I nodded my head at him, then went to the waiting room and sat there. My eyes breathing fire. How dare he... How could he even think that the only reason Charlie recommended me was coz I was his daughter. He didn't even want me to take up this job. He thought it was too dangerous. Though, in all fairness... How could I expect Director Vance to not doubt me... It was his job, and I WAS recommended by my father. I sighed; all the fight left my body. I sat up straight in the chair.

I will just have to prove myself. And I will.

**AN: So how was it? Liked it? Didn't like it? Should I Continue? Please lemme know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm putting up a new chapter so soon, as a bribe for you guys to review! I have had so many story alerts, and not a single review... Guys plz, I need to know whether to continue it or nt... And what u feel about it.**

**Previous chapter: **

Director Vance looked at me and twitched his lips. Maybe trying for a smile. "Very well then. I will place you with one of our toughest agents present. You manage to gain his respect, you will gain mine"

"Yes sir. I'm looking forward to it"

"Please wait outside then."

I nodded my head at him, then went to the waiting room and sat there. My eyes breathing fire. How dare he... How could he even think that the only reason Charlie recommended me was coz I was his daughter. He didn't even want me to take up this job. He thought it was too dangerous. Though, in all fairness... How could I expect Director Vance to not doubt me... It was his job, and I WAS recommended by my father. I sighed; all the fight left my body. I sat up straight in the chair.

I will just have to prove myself. And I will.

**BPOV**

I looked up as someone went inside Director Vance's office, very angrily it seemed. I wondered what it was about. Then the yelling started.

"I told you I don't want any new members in my team. Nor do I want to train any new agents. I thought I had made myself clear director."

I couldn't hear Director Vance's reply to that.

"Fine. I will give her a chance. She screws up once Director, just once, and she's out."

He came out from the office and up to where I was sitting. "Agent Swan?"

I stood up "Yes sir"

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs. You will be training under me. Mind you, I don't tolerate any nonsense from my agents. I don't care if you're the daughter of the Sheriff in your town. Now you work under me. You're going to prove yourself to me like any other agent, or you are going back to working under your father. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir" I stared him in the eyes to prove that I meant what I said, and I was not worried about not being mollycoddled.

"Good. Now follow me." He left the office, not looking back to see if I was following.

I walked a little fast to catch up to him. Just as I was almost behind me, he turned, so I almost smashed into his back "Oh, and Swan? Call me Sir again and you'll be talking to the director. I am not Sir"

"Yes sir, um, I mean, yes, boss..." I swallowed slowly.

He smirked and continued down the stairs. We entered the squad room. There were three other agents present there. One was looking at me with a half smile on his face. Hmmm, looks like a flirt. Will have to keep away from him...There was a female there, looking kinda tough. Would not want to cross her! Before I could continue my observations, Special Agent Gibbs pulled me by my arm and started introductions.

"Agent Swan this is special agent Anthony DiNozzo, Agent Ziva David, and Agent Tim McGee.. Guys this is Agent Swan. She will be undergoing training with our team."

I smiled at everyone in general. They all smiled back and said hello. Tony came up to me to shake my hand, but before he could Agent David smacked his hand away "Don't"

He made a face, and shook his hand in the air. I smiled at him, to show him I was cool with it.

"Isabella, you will be following the team on the case, pick up the techniques from them"

"Bella"

"Excuse me?"

"Bella. Just call me Bella. I'm... not too fond of the name Isabella"

"Okay, Bella. Tim I want you to make sure that you teach her the procedures here."

Tony got all huffed up "Boss why McGoo? I'm the senior field agent, won't I be the better person to teach her. With my seniority, my definitely superior intelligence, my..."

"Superior intelligence? Tony, I have a degree in Biomedical engineering from John Hopkins..."

"What is wrong with the two of you? I am a former Mussad agent. For all practical purposes I will be the best one to train her for the field"

I was staring at the three of them, wide-eyed. Were three NCIS agents actually arguing over which one of them was going to train me? This kinda attention was exactly what I was not looking forward to.

"Enough! All of you. Tony, you teach her investigative techniques. Tim, you teach her your... computer stuff... Ziva, I want you to work on her fighting skills. Now stop behaving like kids and get on with your work"

They all went to their individual desks, heads hanging low.

"Um sir?"

"Yes Bella?"

"My desk?"

"Oh, take the desk next to McGee's"

"Yes, sir"

"And stop calling me sir."

"Yes, Boss"

I set my bag on the desk and sat down there, looking at my team members, my trainers for now. They all looked busy in their work. Meanwhile, I had nothing to do. I felt out of sorts, conscious about myself. At the same time there was this sense of exhilaration. I was here. In Washington D.C. Starting my first day at NCIS. As a junior field agent. A smile slowly crept across my face. Tim looked at me from his desk and smiled at me. I smiled back.

Suddenly the phone on Agent Gibb's desk rang. He picked it up, and spoke into it. He banged his phone back down and said "Pack your bags. We have a case."

"What is it Boss?" Tony asked while they picked up their gear.

"We have a dead marine at Quantico"

**A/N: Don't worry; it's not another lengthy author note... Please just review... It'll make me write faster! : P**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : Minor corrections, mainly grammatical not a new chapter guys sorry just re-posting chapter 3**

**A/N: Thanks to****patie and psychovampirefreak for reviewing.. really helped me continue this story. This chapter is more of the mystery.. but i'm planning on making it balanced between romance and mystery. What do you say? A timXbella. U guys want the cullens in the story? Should I work them in? Plz lemme knw! Oh, and as usual, i don't own anything u recognize. I wish i did. But i don't**

We rushed to the NCIS truck. After an argument it was decided that Ziva would drive the truck. I could not see what the fuss was all about, though Tony and McGee were saying I should say my final prayers as we could only hope to live. I went to sit in the back, being the junior - most agent, but Tony pulled me by my jacket and told me to sit up in front with him.

"Um, but, shouldn't I be sitting behind? We won't all fit in the front Tony."

"McGee can sit in the back. I'm sure he's chivalrous enough to not mind" he said with a smirk.

"Yeah it's ok don't worry" McGee said, though I'm sure he said it only because he didn't have a choice.

"If you're sure?"

"Cm on probie, I'm the senior field agent. He has to listen to what I say."

I followed Tony onto the front of the truck...

"So Bella, what made you leave the idyllic small town life to become an NCIS agent?"

Before I could respond though, Ziva tore through the parking lot of NCIS. We braced ourselves against crashing but she managed to not hit anything on the way. Her driving reminded me of Edward... Though I was worried since I don't think she had their lightening quick reflexes if needed.

Hmmm I managed to think about them without flinching. Maybe shifting to the city was the right idea.

By the time we reached there and got off McGee looked almost green. I felt bad looking at him, though also kinda relieved since I was not the one who had to be tossed around in the back of the van. I felt this twinge of something when I looked at him, a slight twisting of my gut. He was kinda cute in a non-obvious way. Suddenly I realized I was staring at him way too long, and smiling too on top of it. I turned away before anyone would think I was a love-struck teenager.

Agent Gibbs came up to us. "Tony, this is the neighbor who found our lance corporal John Smith. I want you to go interview him. Ziva sketches. McGee bag and tag. Look for anything that might help us. Swan, I want u to take the crime scene photos. "

We all got busy with the tasks. I walked with McGee and Ziva to the crime scene. The place was a mess. It seemed like a demolition truck had gone through the house. The body was seen in the living room, near the armchair. It was a male, his age seeming around 30 years old. He was lying face up. A bullet hole could be seen at the left temple. There was an overturned chair. A broken vase could be seen; the pieces scattered all over the floor. The TV was on the floor and smashed. There were papers lying around haphazardly. I clicked the photographs of the body and the immediate area and looked around to see the others. Ziva was taking the sketches. I went over to take a look.

"Whoa! I could only hope to draw so accurately. My sketching sucks!" I said to her.

"It comes with practice. I've done a lot of it in my early days as an agent"

"Let's hope you're right about that."

"Are you two done gossiping or should I take over all the work?" Gibbs came over all of a sudden. Man, that guy is like a ghost. Dunno where he comes from, as quiet as a cat.

"I've taken the pics of this room Boss. Dr. Mallard is not here yet. So the body cannot be moved. This place is a mess. It seems like someone was trying to stage a burglary."

"Stage? On what basis are you saying that Agent Swan?"

"Well, the place is trashed, like it would be if it was a normal burglary. However, if they had been interrupted, there murder itself would have been messier. There is just one bullet wound that can be seen at the left temple. No other wounds. Also, if he was not at home at the time of the burglary, he would have been caught unaware nearer the front door, rather than in the middle of the living room, that too facing the main door instead of away from it." I said.

Gibbs and Ziva looked at me for a moment. Then without a word, Gibbs just walked away.

"Does he have a problem with me Ziva?"

"No, he is that way with everyone in the beginning. He takes a little time warming up to people. " she reassured me.

Just then Dr. Mallard and Jimmy Palmer, his assistant entered.

"I'm sorry Jethro; as usual Mr. Palmer has demonstrated his superior skill of direction."

"I took the wrong turn Agent Gibbs. I thought it was the second left from the main road"

"What are you talking about Palmer? It is the second left."

"Well, you have managed to make me realize the problem Jethro. It's not Mr. Palmer's sense of direction, it is his counting that needs to be improved."

Wow. Dr. Mallard was definitely pissed.

"Well, what have we here? It seems like... Isabella Swan. How are you my dear? Your father did tell me you might come down to DC but he didn't say anything about you joining the NCIS."

"I'm fine Dr. Mallard. I didn't tell him till I was sure I will be picked actually"

"Dr. Mallard? You've been calling me Ducky since you were eleven years old."

"Well, I didn't know if everyone here called you that too."

"You guys know each other duck?"

"Well yes, you see, Bella's father and I go back a long way. We have known each other since she was a kid. Moving on to the case now. Our lance corporal seems to have some enemies. One bullet wound through the skull. I can also see reddish discoloration on the neck suggesting strangulation."

"Time of death"

Ducky checked it with a liver probe. "3, maybe 4 hours ago. I'll be able to tell you more once we get him back to the autopsy room."

Palmer loaded the body in the body bag and Ducky came up to me.

"We will have dinner after this case is done my dear. We need to catch up."

"Definitely Ducky" I smiled at him.

**A/N: Yay! I posted a day earlier than I intended... Now you guys do me a favour and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter will not have a lot of mystery in it. I feel that they all need to get to know each other... For the flow in the story-line. So there will be parts which you already know. Thanks to TheOneAndOnlyBellaRiddle, patie, pyschovampirefreak and MaeganM.0816 for reviewing. Reviews make me write! Oh, and ppl, pls lemme know if you want the Cullens back or not!**

**Disclaimer: Anything that seems familiar is because it is not mine... **

**BPOV**

On the way back to Navy base, Ziva rode with Gibbs in his car, while Tony, Tim and I were in the truck. Tony drove this time. I was in the middle. Tony was making fun of Tim the entire way back. It was funny, though personally, I did feel bad for Tim. He seemed like a really nice guy.

"So, Probie! What is Forks all about? I haven't really heard of it."

I smiled "Well, I'm not surprised if you haven't. I wouldn't have either, if my dad didn't live there"

"So you're not really from Forks?" Tim asked.

"Technically, I am. I mean, I was born in Forks, but have been living in Phoenix, Arizona almost my entire life. I shifted to Forks when I was 17."

"For the better parties as a teenager?" Tony asked, at his sarcastic best.

"No, my mom got married to a minor league baseball player. She wanted to be with him and they travelled a lot. So I moved in with my dad."

"That's really nice of you Bella." Tim said.

I blushed. "No, not really."

"It is. I don't think any normal teenager would leave a nice sunny place to go to one that stays rainy almost the entire year."

"Checking up on me, have you Tim?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He turned red. "Uh, no. Was just curious."

Tony smirked. "Yeah, right! Anyway, Bella, so after high school you followed daddy's footsteps?"

I smiled. "Well actually, that wasn't the plan when I first shifted there. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but law enforcement wasn't on my list of career options."

"And what made you change your mind then Probie?" Tony asked.

"Um, some stuff happened when I was in high school, after which I became like an adrenalin junkie. Did some pretty wild stuff."

"Such as?"

"I started driving a motorcycle. Still do actually. Jumped off a cliff too"

"Jumped off a cliff? What were you, suicidal?" Tim exclaimed.

"No, it was purely for recreational purposes. Cliff - diving is pretty popular at LaPush."

"I cannot imagine what could possibly make a person want to jump off a cliff, much less for recreational purposes." Tony muttered.

I smiled. "It's a lot like bungee jumping. But with a swim in the end."

Tim smiled at me. Again, the butterflies in my stomach. I looked away.

"What about you guys? I don't know anything about you."

"Well as you know, I am very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, senior field agent, the looks and brains of this team, the one who holds us all together."

"I'm sure" I smirked.

Tim covered up his laugh as a cough.

"The one to your right Agent Swan, is Agent Tim McGoo. He is a computer geek, he's our own Elflord."

"Elflord?" I asked

"I just like playing games online."

"He is also our agent McNerd. Did u know he has written books, based on our lives?"

"You write?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Well, yes. I've a written a couple of books." he looked really uncomfortable.

"Tell me the names. I love reading." I said

"You what?" Tony looked at me in shock.

"What? I enjoy curling up on the bed with a novel. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing normal about it either" Tony muttered.

"Ignore him Bella. What kinda books do you like reading?"

"Well, my favorite used to be Wuthering Heights, but I don't read it anymore."

"Oh?" Tim looked at me questioningly.

"Which books have u written Agent McGee?" I asked, to avoid his question.

"He writes non-fiction, but calls it fiction. He doesn't even write under his own name." Tony said.

"There are a lot of authors who write under pen names. Temme which book Agent McGee. Maybe I've read it."

"Call me Tim."

"_Tim writes _with the name Thom E. Gemcity. The name of the book is..."

"_Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of L.J. Tibbs!" _I said.

"You've read my book?" Tim asked

"Yeah, that and Rock Hollow both. I'm a huge fan of your work."

"Thanks." Tim looked so happy.

"Don't be too thrilled McGeek. You know Bella; all the characters in the book are based on us. L. J. Tibbs is actually Agent Gibbs."

"So every writer gets his inspiration from somewhere..." I defended him.

"Thanks, Bella. But there is no point trying to explain that to Tony."

"And here I thought we would get along splendidly Bella. You and I would make a great match."

"Don't be silly Tony." I blushed.

"You look really pretty when u blush Probie" Tony said, making me blush even deeper.

"Look, we're here" Tim said looking relieved that we had reached. Why was he looking relieved? Tony looked at Tim for a coupla seconds and then smirked at him.

"Come on Bella, let me escort you up" Tony took me by my arm, leaving Tim glaring at Tony.

"But, Tony... the gear..."

"Tim can manage can't he? You don't worry yourself." and he dragged me to the elevator.

When we reached Ziva and Gibbs were already there. "Lost your way tony?" Ziva asked.

"No, just did not want to get killed on the ride, Ziva"

"Where's McGee tony?" Gibbs asked.

"On his way up Boss."

Just then the elevator dinged and Tim came out looking overloaded with the bags. I rushed to help him, feeling guilty about leaving him with all the work.

"Get to work everybody. We need to catch a murderer. Tony..."

"Getting the background on our victim boss"

"Ziva..."

"Finding out if he had any enemies or if any threats were made against him"

"McGee..."

"Checking out his computer for any information I can find."

Wow. They completed all his sentences... I looked at him with apprehension. But Gibbs didn't so much as look at me.

"Um, Boss. What can I do?"

"I teach my team to anticipate Agent Swan. Make yourself useful." he said without looking at me.

I looked around helplessly. What was I supposed to do? They had taken all the easy jobs.

"I could make a timeline, establish where all he has been and what all he has done since he came back last month."

Gibbs smiled at me and continued working. I took that as a yes and got to work.

**A/N: So how was it? The magic review button is here in blue… **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yay! I got the next chapter out so early! I know you guys would just love me for this… ;) Ok... The mystery is back in this chapter. Let me know how you think I'm going forward with the story. It is my first, and I'm not too sure if the mystery is appealing to everyone... Please please let me know…**

**P.S. Thanks to ****BaDWolF89**** and ****XxHollzinthegroundxX**** for reviewing **

**P.P.S. I still don't own Twilight, or NCIS characters… I do own the mystery though… **

**Jethro POV**

When I walked into autopsy, Ducky was telling Palmer about some of his days while working with the Navy.

"What have you got for me Duck?"

"Our Lance Corporal, Jethro, is a man of many mysteries. People say the dead do not talk, but he is telling me many stories."

"Anything of importance Ducky?"

"Well you see this bullet wound here? The bullet entered his skull through his left temple, passed through the frontal lobes of the brain, striking and fracturing the right temple area of the skull, but never exiting the skull itself. Now on opening the skull, we have found the bullet lodged" he said, removing the bullet. "To Abby, Mr. Palmer"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Also, from the bullet wound we can say that it was a close contact shot, as there is searing of the area immediate to the bullet wound. Someone held the gun to his forehead before shooting him."

"Execution style?" I asked.

"Maybe" Ducky said.

I started walking out, when Ducky called me back. "That's not all I've got Jethro"

I turned around and stared at him. "Then tell me, Duck."

"You remember those strangulation marks I told you about? Our Lance Corporal did not get them at his time of death."

"That means someone tried to kill him before he was killed. Two killers Duck?"

"That I cannot say Jethro. But he did get into a fight. There is presence of skin and blood under his fingernails. I have sent samples to Abby for analysis and DNA match-up. Also, on the back of his skull there is a wound, probably from blunt force trauma. I have found what appear to be pieces of glass embedded in the wound."

"We found a broken glass vase there."

"Well then that's probably the weapon used. However, again, it seems as if these wounds are pre-mortem. There is clot formation that can be seen, indicating that there was a time difference of at least half an hour between the head injury, and the shot to the head. It's very puzzling actually. Why would someone hit him over the head, try to strangulate him, and then wait for half an hour before killing him. Unless, your assumption is right, and there are two people who attacked him."

"Hopefully Abby might be able to help me with that." I said and walked to the elevator to go to Abby's lab.

I grabbed a Caf-Pow on the way for her, as she, like me, cannot live without her caffeine fix. When I entered her lab, the music was blaring at the loudest volume possible. I tried getting Abby's attention, though I wasn't surprised when she couldn't hear me.

"Hey!" she yelled when I turned down the volume. "Oh hey, Gibbs."

"Hey Abby, what have you got?"

"Where's my Caf-Pow?"

"First tell me what you've got."

"Alright, Oh great one! We found a fingerprint on the shards from the vase. I'm running it through the database right now. There was also some blood on the pieces, the victim's, but it had already dried, indicating that he was hit with the vase before he was shot."

"Ducky said there was a difference of about half an hour"

"I would agree. I got the bullet just now, so I still have to run it. I ran a tox screen on the victim's blood, and found Meth."

"He was a drug user?"

"It appears so. Not for two long. Two, maybe 3 months."

"He's been back two and a half months. When can I expect the fingerprint results by Abby?"

Just then the machine beeped.

"Right now, Gibbs" Abby smiled. She typed on the computer and came up with the results. "It's Petty Officer Tom Winston. He was deployed in Iraq and has been back in the U.S for just a week."

"Thanks Abby. I want the DNA tests and the ballistics soon."

"You'll have them in a day."

"You have 2 hours."

"Gibbs!" she exclaimed. I handed her the Caf-Pow. "Fine, I'll let you know in two hours."

I smirked at her and left the lab.

**BPOV**

Tony was sitting with his feet on the desk, reading a magazine. I looked at him.

"Don't you need to be working Tony?" Tim asked.

"No, because I believe in working smart, not working hard Probie." Tony said with a smile.

"Tony, how many times have I told you to not call me Probie?" Tim sounded frustrated.

"But you always will be a probie, Probie. While I will always be the senior most field..."

Just then Gibbs walked in to the room with his coffee in his hand and smacked Tony on the back of his head. "Your head getting too big for this room Tony?"

"No. Boss... Uh... I was just..."

"You guys have anything? Or have you just been twiddling your thumbs?"

We all walked towards the plasma screen. Tony picked up the remote and bought up the bio of our victim on the screen. "Lance Corporal John Smith. Joined the Marine Corps straight out of high school. Has a spotless record. His c/o said that he was a quiet man, kept to himself. Brave marine. Nothing wrong with him, but, and I quote here 'He gives people an uneasy feeling.' "

"Care to elaborate DiNozzo?"

"That's all he was willing to say, Boss."

Tim took the remote from him. "His financials are in Boss. Everything was fine till the last three months. He has been withdrawing large amounts since he's come, at least around 50,000 every time."

"Where did he get so much money from?" I asked.

"Inherited it. Parents died in a car crash 2 years ago. He was the only heir."

"What was he doing with the money?" Gibbs enquired.

"Don't know Boss. Nothing that leaves a paper trail." Tim replied.

"Meaning, he was up to no good. Yes?" Ziva said.

"Abby said she found Meth in his blood." Gibbs told us.

"A druggie! Well now we know where the money went." Tony said

"Probably. Boss, I have been asking around with neighbors and people he knew. He was a loner. Doesn't really have many friends. He frequented a diner in the area. When I showed his photograph there, the waitress recognized him. Said that he was with a woman there." I said to Gibbs

"Ah, a good old fashioned romance at the local diner." Tony said with a sigh.

"Not really. Apparently, though it seemed as if he wanted more, she had made it very obvious that she considered him to be just a friend." I replied.

"Obvious, how?" Gibbs asked.

"By a slap on the face when he didn't listen to her saying no. And a loud declaration that she was married." I said wryly.

Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Get her in for questioning."

"Yes Boss, right now the waitress is getting a sketch made of the woman, and I'll get her in as soon as we are able to identify her."

"You have two hours to get her to the interrogation room, Agent Swan."

"Yes Sir" I said and made to leave.

"Oh and Swan?" He waited till I turned back towards him. "Good job."

I smiled, unable to believe my ears. I wasn't making a fool of myself. Tony smirked at me, making me blush. Tim looked irritated by that. I will have to watch out; I don't want to give him the wrong opinion about anything. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to feel romantically towards anyone ever again, not after Edward. No matter what he felt about me, how easy it was for him to forget about my human self, I have still not forgotten him. Don't know if I ever will.

**A/N: So how was it? Good? Bad? Lemme know! The two killers have gotten you intrigued? Who was the woman he was seen with? Reviews inspire me to write faster… ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys, here is Chapter 6… Thanks to 'Twilight fan' for reviewing, and to all those who have added me to their list of favorites, and alerts. But review! I need more reviews!**

**In the previous chapter :  
><strong>Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Get her in for questioning."

"Yes Boss, right now the waitress is getting a sketch made of the woman, and I'll get her in as soon as we are able to identify her."

"You have two hours to get her to the interrogation room, Agent Swan."

"Yes sir" I said and made to leave

"Oh, and Swan?" He waited till I turned back towards him. "Good job."

I smiled, unable to believe my ears. I wasn't making a fool of myself. Tony smirked at me, making me blush. Tim looked irritated by that. I will have to watch out; I don't want to give him the wrong opinion about anything. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to feel romantically towards anyone ever again, not after Edward. No matter what he felt about me, how easy it was for him to forget about my human self, I have still not forgotten him. Don't know if I ever will.

**BPOV**

"Stop staring you lot. We have a suspect. Petty Officer Tom Winston. Abby found his DNA in the victim's fingernails. Get him in for questioning." Gibbs yelled.

Just then the sketch artist returned with the waitress and handed me the sketch of the woman Lance Corporal John Smith was seen with. I took the sheet from her.

"She was a green eyed redhead. Really pretty." the waitress said.

"A redhead? You know her Boss? Tony asked. I wondered what he was talking about, but by the look Gibbs gave him, I doubt it was worth asking.

"I'll get a BOLO out Boss" Tim said and took the sketch from the artist.

"Tony, Ziva, Bella, go get Petty Officer Tom Winston." Gibbs said.

We all grabbed our gear, badge and guns and started to leave.

"What about me Boss?" Tim asked looking at me.

"Go help Abby in the lab. Try to find out where he was getting his drugs from, and is it related to his death..."

I just got a look at Tim's disappointed face when Tony put an arm around my shoulders and led me towards the elevator. Ziva smacked his arm off and gave him a glare. I smiled at Tony, realizing what he was doing. Not only was he trying to rile Tim up, but also get Ziva a little jealous in the process. Hmmm, maybe I should try to get the two of them together.  
><strong><br>Tim POV  
><strong>  
>I looked on as Bella, Ziva and Tony left, Tony putting his arm around her shoulders. Why does Tony always do this? He has to have figured out that I like Bella. So then why does he keep flirting with her? He can have any girl he wants. Why does he want her? I mean I know she is really pretty. But she is also really intelligent. She likes reading. I mean, she is the kinda girl I would love to be with. She is so not his type. Unless... The reason he is flirting with her is because he KNOWS I like her, and he is just doing it to rile me up. I sighed. Well, it was working that is for sure. I put the BOLO out and went down to Abby's lab.<p>

Abby and I have a history, but after a brief time together, we have just been very good friends. She is the one who can always understand how I feel. She is one of the smartest people I know. When I entered the lab, as usual there was really loud music playing. I turned it down slightly; just so that we would be able to hear each other talk.

"Hey Timmy." Abby said.

"Hey Abby"

"What's wrong Timmy?" she asked when she realized I was not sounding too enthusiastic.

"Nothing." I said and tried to distract her. "What have you got so far?"

"Well I have the ballistics running, trying to get a match. I don't really have a lot to work on right now."

"What about the drugs in his system?" I asked

"Meth. Can be bought at your friendly neighborhood drug dealer." Abby said.

"Maybe it can. But we can try using his GPS co-ordinates to see places where he has been frequenting soon after the cash withdrawals every week."

"And from that we can figure out who his supplier was!" Abby got where I was going with this, sharing my level of excitement.

We pulled up his cell-phone records and got his GPS tracker records to figure out where all he had been over the past few months, immediately after withdrawing the money.

"After every withdrawal, the one place he went to without deterring was L Street." I said.

"Pretty far away from his place." Abby mused.

"Yeah, but I doubt he wanted it to get out that he was doing drugs." I said getting up. "I better go tell Gibbs"

Just then the machine beeped.

"The ballistics report! Might as well take this too." Abby punched in a few buttons and brought it up. "9mm slug, from the markings on the bullet I would say a Glock."

"Anyone could have one" I said.

"Yes, but do you see this striation running along the side of the bullet? You get me a gun, and I can positively identify if the bullet has been shot from that gun." Abby said.

"Good work Abby." I said, about to leave.

"Hold your horses. What about Petty Officer Tom Winston?"

"Tony, Bella and Ziva have gone to pick him up" I replied, feeling my mood deflate again.

"There it is. That expression on your face. Tell me what is wrong, Timmy." Abby insisted.

"It's nothing Abby" Abby gave me her fiercest expression when I said that. And trust me, she can be scary. "It's just... Bella..."

"You like her!" she said insightfully.

"Yeah, but, I don't thinks she feels the same way."

"McGee she's been here just a day. You can't know what she is or is not feeling. Ask her out!"

"Yeah I would've... But Tony... He has figured out I am attracted to her."

"And he's making your life hell."

"He is doing his best to flirt with her. And if Tony is flirting with her, why would she even look in my direction?" I replied, despondently.

"What nonsense is that Timmy? Any girl would be lucky to have you. And I'm pretty sure Tony is just doing it to pull your leg. And maybe Ziva's" she continued thoughtfully.

"Ziva's?" I asked puzzled.

"Guys really are blind. Can't you see?"

"Can't I see what?" I was starting to get frustrated.

"Anyway, that's not the point now. Go. Ask Bella out after this case is over."

"I'll... think about it... I better go and tell Gibbs about the findings."

"Tell me what?" Gibbs said entering into the room suddenly.

We told him about the GPS findings, and the ballistics report.

"Good work Abbs. McGee, get the car up front. I'll call Tony and see their status. We'll go check out L Street." Gibbs said throwing me the keys.

"Yes Boss." I said and hurried out from the room.

**BPOV**

We were on the way to Petty Officer Tom Winston's house to get him in for questioning. Ziva was in the back while I sat in the passenger seat next to Tony.

"So Bella. What do you think about our resident geek Agent Timothy McGee?" Tony asked.

I looked at him questioningly. "He seems very capable, intelligent, knows stuff about computers I can't even imagine." I said.

"So you _like_ like him?"

"Tony stop being so juvenile." Ziva said and slapped Tony on the back of the head.

"What... are you guys talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing. Tony is being childish as usual" Ziva said.

We reached our destination, me still being confused.

We walked up to the door and knocked.

The door opened. "Petty Officer Tom Winston..." Tony said.

But there was a woman at the door. A red headed woman. Green eyed. Really pretty. _The woman from the diner..._

**A/N: So what do you think? I didn't really get many reviews for the last chapter. Please review, coz I'm starting to believe no one is really interested, and I'm losing interest in the story myself as a result… So please, please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know, I know long time since I have updated. But I was seriously losing interest in the story. But thanks to Elizabeth Greene for motivating me to continue writing the story! It really helped a lot! **

**Thanks to all those who have added me to their list of alerts and favorites…**

**P.S. This is a special chapter as today is my birthday! Yay! Reviews would make great birthday gifts. ;)**

**Gibbs POV**

I entered MTAC, having been called by Director Vance for a briefing about this case. He was sitting monitoring a mission. I sat next to him, drinking my coffee till he finished giving directions. He turned to me after that.

"So what have you got so far?"

I leaned back on the chair. "A lonely petty officer, clean record, doing drugs"

"Drugs?" Director Vance asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yep. Got McGee and Abby figuring out the source. Tony, Ziva and Bella have gone to pick up Petty Officer Tom Winston. Abby found his DNA under our lance corporal's fingernails. "

"So we have the murderer?"

"Don't know yet. Abby and Ducky both said that he was in a fight just before his death.. So he might not be the killer. "

"Keep me posted on this Jethro."

"I will as soon as I know something." I got up to leave.

When I came out from MTAC I saw Bella and Tim engaged in conversation. Neither of them noticed me as I came down the stairs.

Bella looked at me suddenly "Boss"

McGee jumped, surprised. "Uh... Boss... We were just..."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was just telling Tim about what we found." Bella said looking at Tim questioningly. Clearly, she herself had no idea what was going though McGee's head. I smirked.

"Well, you gonna tell me what you found?" I said going towards my desk.

"Yes.. We went to get Petty Officer Tom Winston in for questioning. When we got to his house, we didn't only find him, we also found his wife."

"Yeah, so?" I wondered what she was getting at.

"Sheila Winston. Redhead, green eyed. His wife was the woman from the diner!"

"So we may have found our motive."

We have them both in the interrogation room right now. Tony is with them. He's waiting for you to come start the questioning." McGee said.

"Let's go then."

GBOV

I decided to send Bella in for questioning the couple and stood on the other side of the mirror looking on.

"Bella?" Tony asked.

"My gut says she'll be able to extract more information from them." I replied, not taking my eyes off the other room.

I saw Bella take her seat across the couple and open the file. She took out the photos we had taken of the crime scene, and showed them to the couple. Sheila winced. The marine, true to his nature, did not show any emotion on looking at the photographs.

Bella steeled her fingers together, took a deep breath and started asking questions.

"What was your relationship with Lance Corporal John Smith?"

Sheila just looked down at her hands and sobbed. Petty Officer Tom Winston, stoic as expected, was quiet.

Bella continued in her unassuming air. "Could you please answer the question?"

"Boss, she is being too nice to them..." Tony started.

"Hold on" I told him, wanting to see what Bella's plan was.

"Ok, then let me start by telling you what I think happened. While you, Petty Officer Tom Winston, were on active duty, your wife had an affair with the victim, Lance Corporal John Smith. On returning, you somehow found out about the affair, went to Lance Corporal John Smith's house, got into a scuffle with him, and then killed him with a shot to the head. "

"A shot to the head?" Sheila Winston looked shocked. She swiveled over to Petty Officer Tom Winston. "But Tom, you didn't go there with a gun?"

"Sheila" Tom tried silencing her with a look.

Bella looked at Mrs. Sheila Winston with her eyebrows raised. "So he did kill him, just not with a gun. Is that what you're saying?"

Sheila sighed. "Let me start at the beginning."

"That would be best" Bella replied softly with a sympathetic look.

_"How did she do that?" Tony asked amazed._

_"She is good" Tim admired her, smiling._

_I smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow! Boss!"_

_"Concentrate on the interrogation McGee, not the interrogator."_

_"Yes Boss." he replied turning red._

_Tony and Ziva smirked at each other over Tim's obvious discomfort._

"I met John at the diner near his place, when Tom was still on duty." Sheila said, looking ashamed, glancing at her husband, who was ignoring her.

"What's so special in that diner?" Bella asked.

"Excuse me?" Sheila looked startled. Admittedly, so was I.

"Something must have been special at the diner. I mean, it's not that close to your place, and going all the way over..." Bella trailed off.

Sheila smiled "Their atmosphere was amazing. I used to forget all my frustrations once I went there."

"Sounds nice" Bella smiled back.

_"What is she doing?" Ziva asked, sounding confused._

_"Making her comfortable. Calming her down, so she'll talk easily." Tim replied before I could, not taking his eyes of Bella._

"It was nice." Sheila's smile faltered. "I, uh, met John there. Saw him first actually. He was sitting alone, nursing his coffee. Looking at everyone present at the diner. What got my attention was that he didn't seem to be waiting for anyone. He was there alone. Seemed like the type who preferred being alone actually. His eyes cut to mine while I was studying him, and then all of a sudden he looked away, wanting to study others, but not wanting to be studied himself."

"So you went over to talk to him." Bella prodded when Sheila seemed lost in her thoughts.

"No, not that night. Not for the next two nights either. I started becoming a regular at that diner, made me feel less lonely. I started recognizing the other regulars, talking to some of them, smiling at others. Most guys used to come up to me and try to chat me up. But not John, never John."

"So for that you sleep with him? I don't believe you, you..." Petty Officer Tom Winston started getting worked up, banging his fists on the table and standing up.

"Sit down Petty Officer." Bella said sternly. "If you cannot hold yourself together, I will have to get you escorted outside and have separate interrogations for both of you."

Petty Officer still stared down at his wife, breathing heavily.

"I said sit down, Petty Officer." Bella said raising her voice.

_Tim got ready to go into the other room to help Bella if needed. _

_"Calm down, lover boy." Tony said. "I'm sure she can handle him."_

_"I just don't want to take any chances Tony." McGee replied._

_"Look he's sitting down Tim. Now can you relax?" Ziva told him._

Petty Officer Tom Winston slowly sat back in his seat.

Bella looked at him for a second before nodding at Mrs. Winston to continue,

"I.. I just went to him to start a conversation. I don't really have any friends here. So I thought I could just maybe start a friendly conversation with him. The first couple of days he barely spoke to me. Just answered any questions I asked him. Slowly he started warming up to me. We started sitting together soon. I really liked him as a friend. He used to come over."

"And then you two started having romantic feelings towards each other?"

"God, no. I never looked at him as anything more than a friend. But I didn't realize that he had a misconception of where our friendship was leading. When he told me how he felt at first I laughed it off, thinking that he was joking. But then he grew more and more persistent. One day I had enough."

"The day you slapped him."

"Yes." Sheila replied. Looking surprised that I knew about it.

"But then why did you sleep with him?" Petty Officer Tom Winston asked. "Finally decided that it was ok to break your marriage vows."

"Ok that is enough Tom. I didn't correct you earlier because in some way I felt responsible for leading him on. But I did not sleep with him."

"Don't try lying your way out of this." Tom said angrily.

"I'm not. I did not want to sleep with him." Her voice got louder and more agitated.

"Sheila..." Tom started.

"Sheila what really happened?" Bella asked.

She took a deep breath, trying to hold back tears. "That day he followed me back home. When I wouldn't listen to him, he got really angry. And he..." she stopped.

"He what, Sheila?" Bella asked gently.

"He raped me."

**A/N: So what do you think? Good, bad, ugly? Whatever you feel let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey… Here's a brand new chapter... Thanks to JadieeBeanz, Elizabeth Greene, Sportytc and psychovampirefreak for reviewing. And to all those who added me to their alerts and on their list of favorites.**

**I might be bringing the Cullens in, but towards the end of the story. I just have a few people telling me they want them there, so if you want them let me know, as I did not plan on bringing them in, originally. **

**P.S. I still don't own anything. Except for this mystery**

**Previously **

"Sheila what really happened?" Bella asked.

She took a deep breath, trying to hold back tears. "That day he followed me back home. When I wouldn't listen to him, he got really angry. And he..." she stopped.

"He what, Sheila?" Bella asked gently.

"He raped me."

**BPOV**

I sat looking at Mrs. Sheila Winston, stunned at her admission.

"He what?" Petty Officer Tom Winston roared, standing up again.

"Petty Officer" I started...

"Dammit Sheila. Why didn't you tell me? Then I would have killed him for sure." He yelled.

"Please calm yourself down or I will have you escorted out."

At that he turned to me. "You don't tell me what to do, you hear? You are here trying to prove us guilty in the murder of a man who didn't deserve to live."

He gripped me by my shoulders really hard.

"Let me go Petty Officer. Before I have you arrested for assaulting a federal officer."

Suddenly the door opened and Tim entered with his gun out and pointed at the Petty Officer.

"Let Agent Swan go." he said with a steely look in his eyes. He was closely followed by Tony and Ziva.

The petty officer, while still breathing deeply, slowly let go of me. Immediately Tony came forward and cuffed him while Tim came up to me.

"Are you ok?" concern shining deep in his eyes.

"I'm fine." I shook my head, trying to shake the entire incident off. I straightened my shirt and stepped back from Tim, who kept looking at me, concerned.

"I really am fine, Tim. I smiled at him, trying to convince him. "I would like to finish my conversation with Mrs. Winston please."

Tony led Petty Officer out of the room, Ziva leaving with him. Tim looked at me for a minute before he too left, shutting the door.

"I'm so sorry..." Mrs. Winston started to apologize.

"It's alright." I brushed it off. "His anger, while misdirected, is completely understandable."

I sat down and readjusted the papers on the table.

"So, Mrs. Winston, I take it your husband assumed that you were having an affair with Lance Corporal John Smith."

She nodded.

"You did not tell him about the rape?" I asked.

She hesitated. "No. Because in some way I felt responsible."

"How can you be responsible for his actions Mrs. Sheila?"

"No, maybe not for the rape. But for leading him on. I did not plan on telling Tom about him at all. Tom... can get very hot-headed at times. I did not want to cause any problems."

"But he found out anyway."

"I don't know how he did. He just came home that day and said that he had found out about our 'relationship'. And..."

"And?" I asked her to finish her sentence.

"And that he would kill him. But I know Tom; I know the kind of person he is. He cannot kill anybody." she continued quickly.

"People do unexpected things when they are angry" I said.

"Yes but not Tom. He went there, that I can tell you. But I can also tell you that there is no way he would have carried out his threat of killing him. "

I just pursed my lips and did not say anything. "Thank you for your co-operation Ma'am." I stood, indicating for us to leave the room. "I'll escort you out."

**Tim POV**

We watched on as Bella escorted Mrs. Winston out from the interrogation room. I turned to Gibbs.

"Boss, Petty Officer Tom Winston could definitely be the murderer. We should interrogate him."

"You think, McGee?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

"But Boss, we can't let Bella interrogate him. You saw how violent he can get." I replied, worrying about Bella. The thought of him putting his hands on her was infuriating me.

"Calm down, Lover Boy. I'll do the interrogating." Tony said.

"No. Bella will." Gibbs said, much to both mine and Tony's dismay, though for different reasons.

"But Boss..." we both protested.

"You got a problem?" he asked us.

We both looked at him, not saying anything.

"Good. Ziva, go with Bella for the interrogation."

Ziva looked startled. "Yes Boss." She left the room.

"Well atleast we know one thing Probie." Tony said.

"And what's that?" I was so not in the mood for his games.

"That Bella's in much safer hands with Ziva there than either of us."

**Ziva POV (Finally!)**

I went with Bella to the interrogation room. I planned on letting her do the asking, making my presence felt only if he tried getting violent again. Or Tim might just murder him. I couldn't help the smile that came across my face at that thought. Who would have thought Tim of all people could have such a reaction to somebody.

On entering the room Bella went and sat on the chair, while I stood on one corner of the interrogation room.

Petty Officer Tom Winston cleared his throat. "Before you ask me anything, I would like to apologize for my behavior. There is no excuse for me raising my hand on a woman, or even trying to intimidate her."

Bella raised her chin. "That is true. And, apology accepted."

I looked at her, surprised. Wow, this girl was of a really forgiving nature.

Bella started the interrogation.

"How did you find out about your wife's affair with Lance Corporal John Smith?"

"Someone told me about it." his lips tightened.

"Would you care to elaborate on who it was?"

He did not answer.

"Answer the Question Petty Officer."

He raised his head. "I was coming back from a jog last evening, when I saw Lance Corporal John Smith lurking around outside my house. I went up to him to ask him what he was doing there. He looked surprised to see me, and asked me what business was it of mine. When I told him it was my house, he seemed startled but then he started smiling and asking me about Sheila. About how she was doing. Why she didn't come to the diner anymore. About whether..." He swallowed. "About whether she stopped sleeping with him coz I was now back."

"Of all the nerve. I was really starting to dislike our murder victim. He was a horrible, horrible man_." _I thought

"What was your reaction to that?" Bella asked gently.

"I yelled at him to get the hell outta my property. I did not believe him Ma'am. I thought he was just trying to stir up trouble for no reason. He seemed like he was high on drugs. So I made him leave, went home, and tried to put the whole incident behind me."

"Then what happened?" I asked, curiously.

"I tried to forget it. But everything he said kept coming back to me. I could not sleep that entire night. This morning, I decided to ask Sheila about the diner. I thought that if she did not know what I was talking about, then I could finish the topic off, and not cause any problems between us either."

"So when you asked Mrs. Sheila about the diner, what did she say?" Bella asked.

"She became really flustered, turned red, stammering her answer that it was not such a great place to go to. And then I knew. Knew that whatever that man said was true. My wife cheated on me. While I was away serving my country. Risking my life every single day. I confronted her about it and she broke down crying. I did not wait to listen to her explanation." His voice got lower then. "Though if I had waited, and found out the truth, then I would have killed him for sure."

"So you did go over to his place to kill him."

"Yes Ma'am, I did. I went to his place. We had words. Got into a fight. He was trying his best to taunt me. I lost my temper. There was a glass vase there. I picked it up, rammed it over his head. He went down immediately."

"Then you shot him in the head?" Bella asked.

He looked surprised. "No Ma'am. As soon as he went down, I realized what I had done. I was not willing to jeopardize by place in the Marine Corps for a man like him. I went to him to see the damage done. The cuts were not so deep. They were starting to clot already. So I decided to leave, rather than wait for him to get up and for me to lose my temper again."

"So you're claiming you did not kill Lance Corporal John Smith." Bella said, raising an eyebrow.

"No Ma'am. When I left there he was alive. Had started moaning. Was regaining consciousness. "

Bella got up and banged the file on the table. "Do not lie to me Petty Officer. You went over there in a fit of rage. You admitted to going there with the intent of killing him. We have your DNA under the Lance Corporal's fingernails!"

"From the time we struggled before I hit him with the vase. Look I've told you as it has happened. I did not kill him." he claimed.

"Do you, or do you not own a 9 mm Glock?"

"I don't." he replied.

Bella's eyes flashed. "We have recovered the gun from your house. We will be checking it for gunshot residue."

"That's not my gun. It's Sheila's. I had even forgotten she had it." he looked genuinely lost.

"We shall see after the forensic reports come back."

"I know what it will say. I did not kill Lance Corporal John Smith."

**A/N: So how did you find the chapter? Please review…. Press the magic blue button and also let me know about your feelings regarding the Cullens. Looking forward to hearing from you...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Long wait... Sorry for that guys! Was not really getting into the groove of writing. Felt like whatever I wanted to say was coming out as rubbish. Hopefully, what I have finally put down is a little better than that. **

**Thanks to JadieeBeanz, Elizabeth Greene, Mrs. Prime0799 and Sarah310592 for reviewing. **(I don't plan on putting the Cullens in the story guys. Sorry to all those who are disappointed. )** And a big shout out to all those who have added me in their list of alerts and favorites! And to nicole301608, for not giving up on me and pushing me to update! Thank you, all of you.**

**I still do not own anything you recognize. **

**Previously : **

Look I've told you as it has happened. I did not kill him." he claimed.

"Do you, or do you not own a 9 mm Glock?"

"I don't." he replied.

Bella's eyes flashed. "We have recovered the gun from your house. We will be checking it for gunshot residue."

"That's not my gun. It's Sheila's. I had even forgotten she had it." he looked genuinely lost.

"We shall see after the forensic reports come back."

"I know what it will say. I did not kill Lance Corporal John Smith."

**Gibbs POV**

After Petty Officer Tom Winston's refusal to admit to the crime, I went down to Abby's lab, carrying her Caf-Pow, without which I know she will refuse to give me any answers. As usual there was loud music playing there, which I turned down. Abby whirled around to look at me.

"Gibbs! How did you know I was going to call you?"

I smirked at her. "You got something for me Abbs?" I asked.

"When have I ever disappointed you Gibbs?" she said then typed something and brought up the report on the screen.

"This gun was bought by Mrs. Sheila Winston two years ago, citing personal protection as the reason. I checked the gun for fingerprints."

"And?"

"We have a couple of distinct finger-prints that I was able to lift. I ran it through the army database, did not come up with any matches."

"So Petty Officer Tom Winston did not kill our victim." I stated.

"Well, let's just say he did not shoot this gun." Abby replied.

"Abby..." I said, starting to get frustrated with her cryptic answers.

"I'm getting to it Gibbs. You know how I like to explain how I reached my answers." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, okay. Hurrying up. The fingerprints that I lifted off the gun belonged to the owner of the gun."

"Sheila Winston."

"That's correct. However, she did not kill the Lance Corporal."

"And why do you say that?"

"First of all I checked the gun for residue. This gun has not been fired for a long, long time. Tom Winston was telling the truth. It's like they have forgotten that they have the gun, or never felt the need to use it. Also, I fired a test round from the gun, just to be sure. The slug does not match the one we found at the crime scene. The tell-tale striation in the bullet we found in our Lance Corporal was not present in the one fired from this gun."

"So my gut was right?"

"Wait, you knew that he was innocent?"

"Look at the way the crime scene was set. He went over there in a fit of anger, jealousy. Had a tussle with John Smith. If he had gone for the kill, it would most likely have been more hot-blooded. There is something a little detached in shooting a person in the head." I mused out loud.

"So we're back at nothing?"

"I wouldn't say nothing. I have sent Tony and Ziva to 'L Street' to see if they can find our Lance Corporal's supplier. Maybe it's just a simple case of a druggie unable to pay his debts."

"Ha. If only they were all that easy."

I smiled at Abby and handed her the Caf-Pow before leaving her lab.

**Tim POV**

I entered the squad room to see Bella sitting on her desk, poring over the crime scene photos. She had a pencil in her mouth and a cute little furrow between her eyebrows as she put her full concentration into finding a clue. I took the sandwich I had gotten her and put it on her desk. She looked up at me startled.

"Which world are you lost in Bella?" I smiled at her.

She blushed... It was absolutely adorable the way she blushed at everything. My smile widened when she smiled her thanks at the sandwich.

"You didn't need to get me anything." she said though from the speed at which she was unwrapping it, I'm sure she was really hungry.

"What, and let you starve on your first day here?" I joked at her.

She smiled again. She really had a beautiful smile. "Thank you. I am hungry. In my excitement at starting my first day at NCIS, I didn't take any breakfast. So basically, I have not eaten since the night before."

"And it's been a long first day." I said.

She leaned back in her chair. "Yes. And I have loved every minute of it."

"You must be missing your dad."

"Yes. And no. It's good to finally be living independently. Though I do miss him terribly. It is both a curse and a blessing to be the only child. You get all your parent's attention."

"And the bad part is?" I asked.

"You get all your parent's attention." she laughed. I found myself laughing along with her. Suddenly though, she stopped smiling and sat up straight.

"Wait a minute. Who does all his money go to?"

"Who? Your dad?" I asked, confused by the sudden shift in conversation.

"No! The victim. He had a nice inheritance. Maybe someone wanted to get their hands on all that money."

"Hmmm. We should check that out actually. We will need to make a call to his lawyer."

"That could give us a motive. We really need a clue to figure out where to take the investigation from here on. I'm afraid we're stuck otherwise."

"You don't think Tony and Ziva will come back with something?" I asked.

"I'm not too sure on that end." She looked at me.

"Yeah, but he had to have run up a pretty sizable debt with the the drug dealer. He had overdrawn on all his credit cards. He had no money left in the bank. Maybe they decided that if he couldn't clear his debts, then they should do away with him."

"We're talking about drug dealers here Tim. They shoot to kill. They kill their hits. They leave. They do not stay back to trash the place to make it look like a burglary."

"Oh! Yeah." I felt like a fool then, when Bella pointed out what seemed to be a very obvious point.

Just then Tony and Ziva entered. Seeming excited about whatever they had found out from their trip. Tony's attention however, was diverted as soon as he saw the sandwich in Bella's hands.

"Is that a sandwich?" He made a beeline towards Bella, who handed him the sandwich with a smile.

"Hey. I got that for Bella. She hasn't eaten anything since last night." I was getting irritated by his careless behaviour.

"It's okay Tim. I'm fine." Bella said.

At the same time Tony said "Calm down, lover boy. While you have been sitting here in the a/c, relaxing yourself, Ziva and I may have just cracked this case wide open."

Ziva rolled her eyes at that. "Really Tony."

"What did you find?" Bella asked excitedly. "I thought it would be a dead end."

"Yes, what did you find Tony?" Gibbs entered the room all of a sudden, startling all of us as usual.

"Well it took a lot of effort, but we did manage to track down the dealer selling drugs to our Lance Corporal. He was a bit unwilling to talk in the beginning, but then Ziva managed to get him to open up."

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He told us that he did go to see the vic at his place this morning. But claims that he was repaid all his debts at that time, and as of right now, he has no tiff with him."

"And you believed him?" I was incredulous at that.

"It did not seem like he was lying. Even he was surprised that Lance Corporal Smith was able to repay the debt in full. He says he left from his place about an hour before the victim died. He also says that he was not alone at that time." Ziva spoke up.

"Not alone? Who was there with him? Petty Officer Tom Winston?"

Tony cleared his throat.

"No, he said it was a woman. A much older woman. And according to our friendly neighborhood drug dealer, she did not seem happy that our victim was using _her _money to clear his debts."

**A/N: I know, not exactly a cliff hanger. But I did finally update! Yay! (Doing cartwheels in my head, coz there is no way I can manage it in real life). Please review guys, and let me know what you think! Your reviews mean a lot to me. It encourages me to review faster. So use your power for good… Press the magic blue button below! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. Have finally got a brand new chapter ready and up for all of you!**

**However, on that note, thanks to all those people who did add me on their list of favs, and alerts. And thanks to god of all, marylopez0812 and Deleted-Account-2663994 for reviewing.**

**Your reviews mean a lot to me.**

**I don't own Twilight, NCIS, or any characters that you recognize. I love playing around with them, though. ;) ;)**

**Oh, and italics are thoughts! :)**

**Previously: **

"What did you find Tony?" Gibbs entered the room all of a sudden, startling all of us as usual.

"Well it took a lot of effort, but we did manage to track down the dealer selling drugs to our Lance Corporal. He was a bit unwilling to talk in the beginning, but then Ziva managed to get him to open up."

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He told us that he did go to see the vic at his place this morning. But claims that he was repaid all his debts at that time, and as of right now, he has no tiff with him."

"And you believed him?" I was incredulous at that.

"It did not seem like he was lying. Even he was surprised that Lance Corporal Smith was able to repay the debt in full. He says he left from his place about an hour before the victim died. He also says that he was not alone at that time." Ziva spoke up.

"Not alone? Who was there with him? Petty Officer Tom Winston?"

Tony cleared his throat.

"No, he said it was a woman. A much older woman. And according to our friendly neighborhood drug dealer, she did not seem happy that our victim was using _her_money to clear his debts."

**Gibbs POV**

"I want to know who was present with Lance Corporal John Smith when the drug dealers were with him. What did she look like, why was she there, what was her relation with our Lance Corporal, and most importantly, where is she now?" Tony, Ziva, Bella and Tim just kept looking at me, waiting for me to continue. "Well, what are you all looking at? Get to work! Now!" I yelled.

All of them went to their desks in a hurry, and got busy in their computers, trying to find the answers, except Bella who started doing through the crime scene photographs again. Maybe she would find something there. You never know.

Right now, though, I was craving for a coffee, when I suddenly realized I had not had one for over 2 hours. I left to get my caffeine fix, before I bit someone's head off.

**BPOV**

I stood in front of the screen, going through all the photos all over again, hoping to find something that we may have missed earlier. Around me, Ziva was busy on her computer, Tony was on his phone, while Tim was busy typing like his life depended on it. I already felt like a part of the team. They had all been so great, and Tim especially had made me feel very welcome. I was yet to meet Abby, and I was kinda nervous about that.

"Boss... I got something." Tim said.

"What did you find Tim?" We all gathered around him...

"Our victim's will. He doesn't have a lot of money... In fact, barely any at all, considering his debts. But whatever he does have is all in his familial property. And after his death, it all goes to a female named Imelda."

"Imelda... Must be an exotic girlfriend of his, her beauty surpassing anything he's ever seen." Tony stated, only to get whacked at the back of his head by Gibbs.

I bit back a smile at Tony's exclamation of pain.

"Actually, I know who Imelda is." I said excitedly.

"Well, when are you planning on telling the rest of us Bella?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"Um, actually I didn't think she was of much importance. It just came up in his childhood."

"His childhood?" Ziva and Tim asked together.

"Did none of you notice it?" Gibbs asked, raising his left eyebrow.

'_Wow, I really wanna learn how to do that. Ok Bella, focus_' I thought to myself.

"Lance Corporal John Smith had a very lonely childhood. His parents were too busy jet-setting across the world to actually take care of their son. I get the feeling they had him just so that they could have an heir, they didn't really want any of the responsibilities that came with becoming parents, nor the joy apparently." I frowned.

"So Imelda is?"

"His nanny, of course!" I said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"His nanny!" Tony exclaimed! "Well, she could definitely match the older woman who was present when he was murdered."

"And she would be the one he would turn to if he needed help in clearing his debts!" Gibbs said turning away. "Trace her. Find out where she is. I wanna know if we have to look for a murdering nanny."

"On it Boss." Tony said, and we all got to work.

**BPOV**

While I was sitting on my desk, trying to locate Imelda's current location, I suddenly got an email... I frowned, wondering who it was from. Nobody I knew would email me. Anyone would just call. I opened it.

_Bella,_

_Really Bella, I thought you promised - nothing dangerous. You were supposed to keep yourself safe for Charlie. And joining NCIS is NOT SAFE._

_I'm keeping an eye on you._

It did not have any name, and I did not know the email ID that it came from. My breathing got quicker as I read through the mail again, as it slowly dawned on me who the mail could possibly be coming from. I shook my head. "No, there's no way I'm going down that road again. I won't survive this time around for sure." I said to myself.

Luckily, Tony interrupted my train of thought by triumphantly yelling out that he had found her. As we got ready to go catch her, I shook the thoughts from my head. While I knew there was no way I could let the email go, I will have to stop thinking about it till the case was over. I was happy after a long time and there was no way I wanted to mess up in my very first case with the NCIS.

**Tim POV**

We had just sat to try to find Imelda, but I found myself distracted, yet again, my Bella. The way she twirled a lock of her hair as she sat deep in thought, the way she bit her lower lip absentmindedly made me want to just keep looking at her, and never stop. I sighed. Well, so much for not admitting my attraction towards her. I will have to tell her, and soon. I couldn't bear the thought of Tony asking her out, if only to antagonize me, just because I was too slow or too uncertain to do so.

While I was still studying her, she suddenly became very pale, looking at something on her computer. Her breathing became erratic, her eyes wide open, looking like something on that screen had really scared her. I was just about to ask her what was wrong, when she suddenly shook herself out of it, looking like she was giving herself a serious talking to.

All of a sudden Tony jumped up from his chair.

"Ha. I found her. See McGeek? You don't have to be a computer whiz to solve a case. Sometimes plain ol' sleuthing does the trick." He said, walking towards my desk.

I saw Bella smirk (having said the same thing to me a little earlier), though her mind didn't really seem to be in the conversation.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Let's go!" Gibbs said. We all got up to leave, collecting our badges and guns.

I was waiting for a chance to get to Bella alone, to ask her what was bothering her, for something definitely was. And I would get to the bottom of it. I couldn't stand seeing her so upset.

I was not the only one who noticed though. As Tony went to get the truck (I think he realized Bella was low, and was trying to give me a chance to ask her what happened, or well Tony! and get the truck! You've got to be kidding me) and Gibbs went to get his car, before I could ask Bella anything Ziva jumped in.

"Bella are you ok? Is something bothering you?" she asked.

Bella looked startled, and then blushed, a habit of hers that just made her all the more adorable. "Um, no. I'm ok Ziva. Just a little homesick." And tried to cover it up with a smile, that both of us could see through clearly.

"Okay..." Ziva said, dragging the word out. "You will tell us if something is bothering you, yes?"

"Oh, definitely!" This time her smile was genuine. And mind-blowing.

Ziva got into the truck with Tony. As we were on our way to the truck, Bella pulled me by my arm.

"Tim, could I ask you for a huge favor?" she asked.

"Sure Bella. Anything."

"It's not case related. It's, um, a personal favor."

"It doesn't matter." I told her. And it didn't.

"Could you trace an email for me? I could probably do it, but I am sure that of the email is from who I suspect it is, it's gonna be really difficult to find them."

Hmmm, she was being really cryptic.

"No problem. I'll do it once we're done with the case."

"Thanks, Tim." The relief in her eyes was genuine.

"Bella, are you in any sort of trouble. Coz I... I mean we... can help you out."

She shook her head. "No, no trouble. Just a... friend... I lost touch with over the years."

"Ok Bella." I picked up her hand and kissed the back of it before I even realized what I was doing. _Oh shit._

Her eyes opened wide. But luckily, before she could slap me across my face, Gibbs called out to us.

"Are you two lovebirds coming?"

I dropped her hand. Her blushing, me rubbing my hand across my face. We both rushed to the car, avoiding each other's gaze...

_Boy, was this going to be awkward or what!_

_**A/N: - Yay! No cliffy this time... Now you guys tell me who you think this mail was from... No prizes for guessing... except maybe a quicker update this time around!**_

_**Reviews make me update faster guys, trust me! :) **_

_**REVIEW**_

ꜜꜜ

ꜜꜜ

ꜜꜜ


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello guys, I'm here with Chapter 11. Thanks to naja, 's-Daughter, psychovampirefreak, ClaireWhitlock, TATE Forever101 and JenIsaSwanUleyWolfGirl1390 for reviewing! Only one of you got the answer to who wrote that letter! And I am not revealing who it was right at this moment!**

**See you at the end of the chapter!**

**Bella POV**

We were on our way to Imelda's house. I didn't know what I was hoping for. On one hand, I really wanted to close this case and catch the murderer. On the other, I found it a little hard to believe that a nanny could kill a kid who she had practically brought up. I found that difficult to digest, and voiced my opinion.

"Boss, I'm not too sure if Imelda is the murderer."

Gibbs looked at me from the corner of his eye while Tim sat straighter in his seat to look at me. I blushed at the attention towards me.

"Why do you say that Bella?" Tim said, his voice getting a little husky as he said my name. He cleared his throat when I turned around to look at him.

"I just find it difficult to believe that a woman could kill the man who she, for all intents and purposes, has brought up as her own. They would have to be close, or Lance Corporal John Smith would not have left her all his remaining assets in his will."

"People sometimes are difficult to believe. Money can be a powerful motive. People change Bella, sometimes more than we can imagine."

My mind immediately flashed to Edward, and I grimaced. Who knew that better than me? While his betrayal didn't leave me gasping for breath like I was having a heart attack anymore, it did still leave a hollow feeling in my chest.

Suddenly, we heard a loud bang from the tire and the car spun out of Gibb's control. We swerved to avoid an oncoming car, only to see a huge tree looming in front of us.

'Edward' was the last thought that came into my mind, before it all became black...

**Tim POV**

After I made the highly foolish decision to not think before kissing Bella's hand, we got into the car to get on our way to Imelda's house. Bella was making it a point to not look at me. I just hope I had not ruined whatever friendship we had managed to build up since we met.

Suddenly Bella, who had been looking pensive for a while, spoke of her misgivings of our assumption that Imelda was the murderer. While it might be unlikely, one could just not tell about people anymore.

Our musings were interrupted by our tire puncturing. Gibbs lost control of the car. He swerved to avoid a car, only to go and bang our car into a huge oak tree. I was stunned for a moment, taking a few seconds to wrap my mind around what just happened. Then I freaked out.

I knew, being a trained federal agent, I should keep my head in such situations. But I was panicking as I slowly realized I was the only one still conscious.

I called out to Gibbs and Bella, but neither of them answered.

The door on my side was jammed in; I was unable to get it open. My hands were trembling as I struggled to click open my seat belt. I could see that Gibbs was breathing fine. Bella however had a lot of blood running down her face, having banged her head against the windshield.

Luckily Tony and Ziva were behind us so they saw the whole incident. They came running over to our car. I waved them away, telling them I was fine and to see to Bella and Gibbs. I finally managed to get my seatbelt open and stumbled out the door on the other side. Ziva and Tony had managed to get Gibbs out of the car, but the tree had crushed the car on Bella's side and she was stuck inside.

Gibbs started groaning and moving around a little. Thank God. Since he didn't seem in any immediate danger, we decided to completely concentrate our efforts into getting Bella out of the car. My panic was deepening with every second that passed and we were unable to get her out.

I didn't realize when a car passing by saw the crash, and stopped nearby. Now did I realize that two men came rushing out of their cars to help.

"Excuse me, we are doctors. Can we help?"

"Yes, you can just check the man over there." Ziva said. "We don't think he is suffering from any major injuries."

"Was he the only one in the crash?" one of them asked, taking out some medical instruments from his bag.

"No. We have someone stuck under here." Tony said, "But we're not able to get her out. We'll have to wait until the emergency services get here. Don't want to make her injuries worse."

The younger of the two nodded, and bent down to check over Gibbs. He took a deep breath and suddenly stiffened. His eyes widened, first in shock then in panic. He looked at the slightly older man with him. "Carlisle..."

'Carlisle' looked over at the younger man questioningly, then his own eyes widened. He whipped his head over to the car where Bella was stuck. Suddenly both of them left Gibbs and rushed over really fast to the car.

"Oh God!" Carlisle said. "Edward we need to get her out of there."

"Bella!" Edward groaned, rubbing his hand across his face.

Wait, what? What is going on here? How do these two men know Bella?

Before I could ask either of them how they knew Bella, we heard the sirens of the incoming paramedics. Carlisle and Edward were discussing something in a low voice. Edward seemed to be pleading Carlisle for something, he seemed to be more panicked about Bella than I was, and that's saying something!

I don't know how they did it, but suddenly the two of them were lifting Bella out from the car.

"Oh thank God." Ziva reverberated with my silent prayer. "How did you do that?"

Edward looked like he hadn't even heard the question; he was too busy looking at Bella.

"We've helped in accidents before" Carlisle replied distractedly.

I was really starting to get suspicious about the pair, and how close the two of them, especially Edward, were getting towards Bella.

"I think we should let the paramedics handle it from here" I said, my blood seething when I saw Edward smooth Bell's hair off her forehead.

Edward's head snapped up towards mine with a really ferocious look, which would have gotten me really scared, if I hadn't been through all the training involved with being a federal agent. I held his gaze, and glared back at him.

"Edward..." Carlisle said in a warning tone.

"We need to get her to the hospital Carlisle. Fast. She's losing too much blood." Edward said in a pained voice. He stared at Carlisle, who did not respond, and then Edward nodded his head. It seemed like they were having a silent conversation amongst themselves.

Luckily, at that moment, the paramedics arrived and rushed to check the victims. Unfortunately, Ziva told them that I was also in the car when it crashed, which led to them taking me away to check for any internal injuries I might have suffered during the crash. I lost sight of Bella, but I could see frantic activity going on around them.

Tony came up to me after a little while. I jumped on him for any information about Bella.

"They have taken her to the hospital. She had lost quite a bit of blood. Dr. 'Edward' over there was freaking out and then convinced the medics to allow him into the ambulance with her."

"They allowed him to ride in the ambulance?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, he's supposed to be a pretty important name in accident and trauma management." Tony told me.

"So this is right up his alley." I said, not sure if I should be happy or sad about that.

"Yeah, well, I'm not too sure it was an accident."

I looked at him, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"While you were being babied over here by the medics, I decided to go check the reason for the tire to puncture like that."

"It wasn't an accident was it?" I asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

Tony shook his head. "Only if you can call a 9 mm bullet lodged in your tire an accident!"

**A/N: Hahah! Surprised? I knew I said I wouldn't be bringing the Cullens in, but I couldn't resist. Not so much of mystery in this chapter. So what do you think? Should Bella and Edward get back together? Or should Edward leave before Bella wakes up to see him there? Your opinion counts guys! Please do review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Wow! Another update so soon! This one is in Edward's POV. **

**I would like to thank .Me, Jade of Silence, sillychick, god of all, nicole301608, loven-it, skybloom96, Sarah310592 for reviewing. **

**Edward POV (Yay!)  
><strong>  
>It had been a long time since we had left Forks. Seemed like an entire lifetime to me. After months of moping, Esme finally had enough and yelled at me to turn my act around. Then I realized how selfish I had been. They had all loved Bella too. But I behaved like I was the only one upset after leaving her. I loved her still, that was without a doubt. But I slowly started becoming less of a loner. I started mixing up with the family again. I decided to study medicine again. I had dabbled in it earlier, but had never been sure I was strong enough to resist the blood. But the year of resisting the call of Bella's blood made me realize that I was stronger than I had believed. This time, I went into the studies with more confidence, and decided to choose to specialize in trauma and accident cases. That way I could help save lives, as my mind - reading capabilities, along with my vampire senses made it easier for me to find out the exact extent of the injuries and help make the diagnosis faster.<p>

After a few years we shifted back to Washington. Being this close to Bella made me think about her again, how she was and what had she gone on to do in her life. I hope she was happy, no matter what. Bella's name was not mentioned in our house, probably because everyone was worried I would go back to my earlier catatonic stage.

One day, Carlisle and I were on our way to the hospital in his car. Suddenly my phone rang, and I was surprised to see Alice calling me.

"Hey, Alice. We just saw you 5 minutes ago. What happened?" I knew she had to have had an important vision if she was calling me.

"Edward you will come to an accident scene in about 2 minutes. You and Carlisle need to stop and help them."

"We would have probably done that anyway."

"Well, I don't think you would want to take the chance of going past without stopping." Alice said mysteriously, and cut the call before I could question her further.

"Accident?" Carlisle questioned me, having heard both sides of the conversation.

"You know as much as I do." I said smiling, though I was equally puzzled.

We came up to the accident site. A car had run headlong into a tree. There was a huge truck nearby with the NCIS logo emblazoned along its side.

We got out from the car and hurried to where two males and a female were gathered.

"Excuse me, we are doctors. Can we help?" Carlisle said.

"Yes, you can just check the man over there." the female with brown hair said. "We don't think he is suffering from any major injuries."

"Was he the only one in the crash?" I asked, taking out some medical instruments from my bag.

"No. We have someone stuck under here." one of the men said, "But we're not able to get her out. We'll have to wait until the emergency services get here. Don't want to make her injuries worse."

I nodded, it was sensible, since the extent of her injuries was not known and it might aggravate her injuries to move her. I bent down to check over the other victim. He was an older man, with grey hair. He did not seem to have any serious injuries. I took a deep breath to see if he was bleeding from anywhere and the smell that came to my nose was that of the most delicious smelling blood ever. I had tasted this blood earlier. I knew how potent it was. My eyes widened, first in shock then in panic. I looked at Carlisle and breathed out his name to get his attention.

Carlisle looked over at me questioningly, then his own eyes widened. He whipped his head over to the car which was stuck. Both of us left the man we were examining and rushed over as fast as we could and still appear human. My heart, if it had still been beating, would have stopped at the sight in front of us.

Bella was in the passenger seat of the car. The car on her side had dented inwards, crushing her. She had blood streaming down her face, and from the smell of it, a lot of internal bleeding as well.

"Oh God!" Carlisle said, realizing that Bella's injuries were pretty severe. "Edward we need to get her out of there."

"Bella!" I said, rubbing my hand across my face. Did she have to be in danger every single moment she lived? Couldn't she just be _safe_?

_"Wait, what? What is going on here? How do these two men know Bella?" _I heard one of the men think.

Before he could voice his thoughts, we heard the sirens of the incoming paramedics. Carlisle and I started having a discussion in a volume too low for them to hear us.

I was pleading Carlisle to get Bella out of the car. Carlisle felt that the others would get suspicious, since they had been trying for a while and had been unsuccessful. But I was unwilling to let her remain there. I just couldn't. I blocked out the thoughts of the others there and just concentrated on Bella's heartbeat and her breathing, which luckily seemed to be steady thus far.

Carlisle realized that I was going to get Bella out of the car with or without his help, and two people would seem less suspicious than just one person managing to get Bella out from the car.

We slowly removed the weight of the car that was crushing her and gently got her out from the car. I immediately started accessing her injuries, and thanked God that I had chosen the specialty I had.

"Oh thank God." the female said. "How did you do that?"

I acted like I hadn't even heard the question; I was busy with Bella. My panic reduced as I realized that her injuries were not that severe. The internal injuries I had assumed earlier were likely not there, and the blood had seemed so much in amount to me only because it was so potent to me.

"We've helped in accidents before" Carlisle replied the female's question, acting like we had not done anything out of the ordinary.

I could feel them grow suspicious of us and how we had managed to remove Bella so easily from the car when they themselves had not been able to. One of the men, the younger one definitely had feelings for Bella. He was very protective of her and was getting angry when I was holding Bella in my arms. I brushed a lock of her hair off her forehead tenderly, looking at her face after so long...

"I think we should let the paramedics handle it from here" the younger male said, whose name was Tim, which I read from the mind of the female, Ziva, who was worried about how he was taking Bella's accident.

My head snapped up towards him with a really ferocious look, which should have gotten him really scared, but he held my gaze, and glared back at me. I admired his tenacity and protective nature towards Bella.

"Edward..." Carlisle said in a warning tone.

"We need to get her to the hospital Carlisle. Fast. She's losing too much blood." I said, my voice pained at the thought of losing her.

'_Edward are you able to control your thirst with all the blood?' _Carlisle thought to me.

I nodded to him. That thought had not even occurred to me actually.

Luckily, at that moment, the paramedics arrived and rushed to check on Bella and the older man, whose name was Gibbs. A few of them gathered around Gibbs, and then realized he was stable and probably just concussed, so a few came to Bella and pushed me away, not realizing I was a doctor. They put an oxygen mask over her face, and put her on the stretcher. I went with the paramedics and started talking to them, telling them that she had hit her head, and might be suffering internal injuries for which she should be examined. They were about to brush me aside, and then suddenly realized who it was. They were a little reluctant to let me ride in the ambulance, but I convinced them otherwise. There was no way I could trust her with some other doctor.

**A/N: Edward's POV on the earlier chapter. So what do you think? The reviews in the earlier chapter really encouraged me to get this one out really fast. So now you know the secret to get me to update :p**

**Plzzzzzzzzzzz review ****J**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey guys. Aren't you glad I'm updating so soon! :) I got a lot of different opinions on getting the Cullens back into the story. A few of you want them there; a few of you want her with Tim. You guys are totally mixing me up too **

**I would like to thank ImaniSechelles, signofthemoon, so-that's-what-it-is-called, .Me and symmasters for reviewing and to all of you who have added this story to your alerts and favorites.**

**I still don't own anything, though I would love a lil bit of Tim. ;)**

**BPOV**

I slowly became conscious to my surroundings to hear a very irritating, and also very familiar, beeping sound. Oh God! What had I done now to land in the hospital? I couldn't remember.

I tried recollecting what I last remembered before losing consciousness. I remembered telling Charlie goodbye. Driving down to Washington. Finding an apartment to stay in that was close enough to work. Work! I had joined the NCIS. Gibbs' team. And we were working on a case currently. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying harder to remember. Gibbs, Tim and I were going to question Imelda. When we had the car accident. I sighed internally. I guess I was disaster prone here too...

Tim... He had kissed my hand before we got into the car. I was very conflicted. Was I ready to move on? Because, somehow, I did not mind the fact that he had done that. The reason I had not spoken to him after that was because I was confused. About whether I wanted him to pursue this further. He had made it obvious he was attracted to me. And I did not have a problem with that. This was a first since Edward left. Was I finally ready to move on? Before Tim, if any guy ever tried to make a move I started avoiding him like he had the plague. But with Tim, I felt different. He was really intelligent. Which was important to me. And pretty cute too. He looked so worried in the car just before we crashed. Wait a minute! Tim and Gibbs were in the car with me. Tim had to be ok. He couldn't not be.

I opened my eyes only to close them immediately with a wince. The light was way too much for me.

"Bella?" I heard someone ask softly. "You awake?"

I heard someone drawing the curtains closed.

This time I was careful to open my eyes slowly, so that they don't hurt from the glare. Now the room was bathed in a soft glow. My eyes slowly focused to someone sitting at my bedside. It was only then that I realized that whoever it was, was holding my hand.

Tim looked at me from his position beside my bed. He looked worried, his hair in total disarray, like he had run his hand through it a few times. He sat up a little straighter on seeing that I had woken up.

"Bella!" He exclaimed. "How are you feeling? Should I call the doctor?" he grimaced at the word doctor. I was puzzled at that. Why would he not want to call the doctor?

I tried speaking but my throat was feeling very dry. "Water" I managed to croak out.

Tim rushed around the room to the water jug and got me a glass. He set it on the table beside my bed, and putting an arm around me, helped me sit up. I would have protested, but I was feeling a little dizzy. And I liked the feel of his arm around me. I blushed, and to cover it up I lifted the glass and drank deeply, finishing the water in it.

"Want some more?" Tim asked me as I lowered the glass.

I shook my head to indicate no. Clearing my throat I asked him. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" He said.

"We were on our way to Imelda's house. Our tire blew out and we crashed into a tree?" It sounded like a question.

Tim nodded. "Yeah, the difference is that the tire didn't blow out. It was blown out. By a bullet."

I raised my eyebrows. "What?" I shrieked. "But..." I took a breath to calm myself down. "Sorry about that. But I can't imagine someone like Imelda waiting at the side of the road for our car to pass by, and then to shoot our tire."

"I agree with you. It's a little farfetched. We still have not gone to her residence to pick her up though. We had to get you and Gibbs to the hospital, and then once we were sure you two were going to be fine, Tony and Ziva left to process the scene and try to see from where the bullet was shot and if our shooter left any clues for us."

"You didn't go with them?" I asked him.

'Ah, no. I... uh... wanted to make sure you were okay."

I blushed at that, looking down.

"Bella, about today, I would like to apologize for my behavior. I should not have kissed your hand like that. I don't know what you must be thinking of me. I just..." I interrupted him there.

"It's okay Tim... No really, it is." I insisted when he looked at me disbelievingly. "I was just a little surprised that's all. How is Gibbs?" I asked him, trying to change the topic.

"Gibbs is fine. He has a mild concussion, and will have a killer of a headache once the medicine stops working, but he is free to go."

'How long was I out?"

"About an hour. An hour too long, as far as I'm concerned." Tim said and then blushed himself.

"Just an hour?" I asked puzzled. "I feel pretty good too, actually. Then why all the machines attached to me?'

"You were losing a lot of blood Bella. These machines were put as a precaution. You just got a few stitches. Apparently, facial wounds bleed a lot, making them seem deeper than they actually are."

"Yeah, I've heard that before. So I'm free to go then?" I asked him chirpily.

"I'm sure you will be discharged. Unless your doctor has a problem with it." He replied with a scowl. Again with the doctor. Before I could ask him what his problem with the doctor was, he came up to me bed and knelt down beside me, taking my hand in between his, and pushing my hair away from my face.

"Do you know how worried I was?" He whispered to me. "How totally you freaked me out when you wouldn't get up? I have never been so scared in my life Bella. Never. Up until that moment when I saw you bleeding and I was unable to get you out of the car, or to wake you up? All my training, all my common sense flew out the window. I couldn't think Bella. I could only feel. And I felt terrified that I had lost you. Before I even had the chance to tell you how I feel, about how much you mean to me already, in just a few days."

He looked into my eyes, my heart beating faster with his proximity, feeling his breath on my face. He came a little closer. I bent my face down towards him. He hovered over my lips, just breathing near me. My own breathing picked up, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him to kiss me, to feel his lips on mine. He looked into my eyes, one of his hands coming to cup my neck. My hands rose off their own accord and tangled themselves in his hair. He came even closer, if that was possible. I could smell his aftershave, and a smell that was uniquely Tim. I bit my lower lip hesitantly. Tim looked down at it and groaned. The sound pulled at me, at my core, where I was slowly starting to get a little uncomfortable. The way his eyes were raking over me was causing the heat to run directly down to my core, and I was starting to get wet. All this and he was yet to kiss me! His eyes came back up to mine and he looked into mine like he was asking me for permission to kiss me. I nodded slightly and was about to bend and kiss him myself but his hands held my face firm. He licked his lips lightly. Slowly, finally, his face bent towards mine. My eyes fluttered shut and I could feel him getting closer and closer. He hesitated for a second, but then I felt his lips touch mine gently.

At that very second, at the back of my mind I heard the door open.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Bella." I heard a familiar voice say.

Tim and I jerked away from each other, both of us breathing deeply. He turned away, muttering under his breath, and I turned towards the door to see who had entered.

Wearing a stethoscope around his neck, and a doctor's coat, standing at the doorway was...

"Edward!" I gasped.

**A/N: I know, I know, you guys would want to kill me for building up the anticipation for Bella and Tim's first kiss… Tell me how you found it? Reviews pls! I love to hear what you guys have to say!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I think I am spoiling you guys! Another update! A special thanks to katniss12, ImaniSechelles, LecterCullen91, .Me and Scarlet3008 for reviewing! Though I have noticed, the faster I update, the lesser the number of reviews! So maybe I should slow down, eh? ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot of this story... None of the characters are mine :(**

**Previously:**

His eyes came back up to mine and he looked into mine like he was asking me for permission to kiss me. I nodded slightly and was about to bend and kiss him myself but his hands held my face firm. He licked his lips lightly. Slowly, finally, his face bent towards mine. My eyes fluttered shut and I could feel him getting closer and closer. He hesitated for a second, but then I felt his lips touch mine gently.

At that very second, at the back of my mind I heard the door open.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Bella." I heard a familiar voice say.

Tim and I jerked away from each other, both of us breathing deeply. He turned away, muttering under his breath, and I turned towards the door to see who had entered.

Wearing a stethoscope around his neck, and a doctor's coat, standing at the doorway was...

"Edward!" I gasped.

**BPOV**

I stared in shock at Edward, taking in his tousled bronze hair, his golden eyes, his crooked smile as he looked back at me. I blushed and looked down for a moment before looking back up. "Edward, what are you doing here?" I cried out.

"Making sure you're alive." he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Really Bella, you have not changed at all."

"Wait, so you guys know each other."

"I thought I'd made it pretty obvious when I saw her at the accident site." Edward said, looking at him and raising an eyebrow.

Tim looked flustered and looked at me for an answer.

"Um, yes... I... that is we... "I stammered, not sure what to tell Tim. I mean, not only had we just kissed, but Edward looked so much younger than me now. And I wasn't really sure where we stood right now. Looking at Edward, I could not deny that he looked as mind-blowing as he always did, I just wasn't sure if I looked at him the same way anymore.

"Bella and I used to date in high school." Edward told Tim smoothly.

"What? I mean, you two went to high school together?"

"Trying to tell me I look old Tim?" I joked, trying to break the tension in the room.

"No, that's not what I meant at all." Tim said, backing out from what he assumed was dangerous territory.

"Agent McGee, if you don't mind could I have some privacy with my patient please?" Edward asked.

"What for?" Tim seemed a little irritable, and I couldn't blame. Not only had we been interrupted, the person interrupting us was my ex-boyfriend, and a gorgeous looking man at that.

"I need to check her condition. Make sure she is fine for discharge Agent McGee." Edward replied.

Tim looked disgruntled, since he couldn't really argue with that. He left the room, closing the door with a click.

"So Bella? How you doing?" Edward said coming round to my bedside.

"Seriously Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked him, still unable to believe my eyes.

"I have joined here as a surgeon Bella. Specializing in trauma and accident cases. Imagine my horror when I find my first patient to be none other than you." He sighed and took at his torch from his pocket. He held up a finger and shined the torch into my eye. "Look at the finger Bella."

After a few seconds he turned off the torch. "Well, no signs of long-lasting head trauma." He sighed, sitting down beside me on the bed and cupping my face in his hand. "Don't scare me like that again Bella. You promised me you would remain safe. And what do you do? Run off to fight against crime. I hope you have been told that it wasn't an accident."

"Yes, Tim told me." I said. I waited for the tingles from his touch to start but I could just feel his cold hand against my warm cheek. None of the tingles I had felt with Tim a few minutes ago.

"Say something Bella." Edward begged me.

"I don't know what to say Edward. All of you vanished without a word. You telling me that you would never see me again. I have just barely started getting over all you guys.

I'm starting a new life, in a new place. And then you waltz into my life again. Sending me emails, rescuing me from car accidents. Without so much as a warning."

"Emails? What emails?" Edward looked bewildered.

"You didn't send me an email a few hours ago telling me the same things you just said to me?"

"No I didn't. Bella, I didn't even know we were in the same city till Carlisle and I passed by your car on the way to the hospital. We didn't even know it was you in the car. We just stopped to help whoever was in the accident."

"Carlisle is here too?" I asked, unable to hide the joy in my voice.

Edward smiled. "Yes. And he's just waiting to make sure you want to see him."

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"

Edward's smile got bigger. He got up to go get Carlisle, but then turned around to look at me.

"Bella. I'm gonna discharge you now. But for God's sake be careful."

I blushed. "Yeah. I will. It's not like this was my fault!" I said indignantly.

"Yeah. Danger magnet and all!" He teased me. "Though if lover boy has his way, he'll jump in front of a bullet for you."

"Tim?"

"How many you got Bella?" He grinned. "He's a nice guy Bella. Really cares about you. He is insanely jealous of me right now though, and what he assumes we have."

"What DO we have Edward?" I realized I still cared about him, not the way I felt about each other earlier. But maybe as a very close friend. I hope we could sort out the awkwardness that was there between us at the moment.

He hesitated. "Bella. I will never forgive myself for the way I left you in the forest that day. It was ungentlemanly of me. And wrong. Totally wrong. I lied to you that day Bella. Well not entirely. I did feel that you would be better off without us in your life, safer. Though you've proven me wrong already." He smiled wryly. "I didn't leave you because I stopped loving you Bella. I left to keep you safe, to give you a chance at a human life. And somewhere I'm glad that I did. Not the way I did it though. I'm glad that you have done something meaningful with your life, albeit dangerous, that you would not have been able to do if we had stayed on in Forks." He sighed. "I really care about you Bella, and I thought I would never get over what I have done. After seeing you today, talking to you, I've realized that while I still love you, it is more as a friend rather than a mate. And I really hope that even after you leave from here, you continue staying in touch with me." he looked at me beseechingly.

I smiled at him widely, the relief coursing through my body. "Edward, those are my thoughts exactly. Are you sure you can't read my mind?" I teased him.

He laughed. "No, I tried to see if that had changed. But you're still as silent to me as ever. I'll go get Carlisle now. He's getting a little impatient to see you."

"When can I leave?"

"Oh, I'll just tell them to start with the paper work. By the way, I would suggest being careful about a pixie coming and knocking you over sometime soon."

I laughed. "I would love to see Alice again. And the rest of them too."

"I'm sure they would love it too." He said and left.

I leaned back against the pillows and smiled to myself, waiting eagerly for Carlisle to come in. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I met Edward again! And was going to meet the rest of the Cullens too! I would get my family back! I was glad Edward and I were able to move past our history together, and we were both on the same page. My eyebrows furrowed as I suddenly thought of a new problem.

How was I going to explain to Tim that I was dating a guy who looked so many years younger than I did?

**A/N: Ok guys, I know, I know, only fluff in the chapter. But I really wanted to resolve the issue between Bella and Edward. While I hadn't planned on getting them back together (most of you didn't want that anyway), I did not want to leave either one of them bitter or angry with each other. What do you feel? **

**I promise the next chapter will be back on track with the mystery!**

**Please do review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I am so sorry about the long wait. I was going through an Edward-crazy phase again, and if I would have written anything, it would have ended up with Edward and Bella getting back together, and that is so not what I wanted for the story. Anyway, I promise to update more regularly now.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed! Now let's go to the story!**

**TIM POV**

I left Bella's room, jubilant and downcast at the same time. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I had almost kissed Bella. Beautiful, gorgeous Bella Swan. Who could have any guy she wanted. And she wanted to kiss me too! I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. I then heaved a sigh. I had just left her alone with her ex. Her super-hot ex. I wondered about the age difference, as Edward Cullen seemed very young to me. And Bella didn't seem to be the type to go for younger guys. But I guess everybody behaved stupidly during their high school days. I just hoped she didn't start comparing the two of us. I would never hold up against him.

I entered the waiting room to see Gibbs discharged and pacing impatiently. Tony and Ziva were sitting. They all turned to look at me as I entered.

"Tim! Is Bella alright?" Ziva asked.

I nodded. "Yes, she's fine. They are about to discharge her actually. After Doctor Cullen is done checking her." I couldn't stop the bitterness from entering my voice.

Tony and Ziva raised their eyebrows at my tone, but no one said anything. I turned to Gibbs. "How you feeling Boss?" I asked him.

"Pissed off. I want to catch the b*****d who had the audacity to do this. We're lucky no one was majorly injured." He turned to Tony. "Did Abby find anything?"

Tony and Ziva looked at each other... It seemed like they were having a silent argument in their minds about who was going to be the one delivering the news to a livid Gibbs. I'll admit it, if I had dragged myself away from Bella for even an instant to find out what had actually happened, I would be equally scared to tell an angry Gibbs the news.

Tony sighed and looked at Gibbs. It seemed like he had lost the argument.

"Uh, Boss. Well Abby said it does not look like you've had an accident. Your tire was shot from under you."

"What!" I was livid at the thought of someone trying to harm my Bella, even though I knew of the tire being shot. _My _Bella. It was funny how right that sounded. 'Focus Tim' I yelled at myself silently in my mind and then groaned. 'Great! I'm talking to myself now!'

To the room I asked, "I didn't hear any shots."

"Neither did Tony or I" Ziva said. "We think he, or she, used a silencer. We found the bullet lodged in your tire. We have sent it to Abby for processing. She said she will call us as soon as she knows something."

"But the question is 'Why?'" I cried out. "It doesn't make any sense. I somehow have a hard time believing that an old lady like Imelda was waiting for us to figure out her connection to the victim, suspect her for the murder, and then at the very time we are on our way to her place, she is waiting for us at the side of the road to shoot at our car."

"Quite a long speech you have there, Timmie" Tony said

"Bella agrees with me that Imelda doesn't seem to be the right person to suspect as far as this shooting goes." I defended myself.

Tony smirked. "Bella agrees, huh? Well, I guess it settles it for you then."

"Shut up, Tony" Ziva and I said it at the same time. This was definitely not the time for Tony to start on me about Bella. Plus, I was worried about what Gibbs' reaction to that might be.

Gibbs looked thoughtful. "Actually, I agree with what Tim and Bella say. Something in my gut says we're missing something. Imelda doesn't seem the right fit for the kind of planning this would need."

"I also agree with that Gibbs. She might have murdered someone in a fit of anger, but calculated murder seems a little out of her alley." Ziva said.

"What did Imelda say when the three of you met her?" Gibbs turned to us with raised eyebrows.

All three of us stared at each other with wide eyes.

"The thing is Boss, we were here at the hospital. We helped process the scene of the accident, but then came straight here."

"Bella was bleeding quite a lot. We were all worried about her." Ziva said softly, trying to calm Gibbs, who was getting visibly angrier every second.

I shot her a grateful look for not mentioning that I was the one who had practically broken all traffic rules in my haste to get here. The other two were worried too, no doubt about that, but nowhere near as panicked as I was.

Luckily at that moment Bella entered, stopping Gibbs from starting his tirade. Wait did I say luckily? Does it count as lucky when you see your almost girlfriend coming out with her ex-boyfriend hovering too close for comfort with the pretense of being there in case she got dizzy? Can it be considered lucky if the boyfriend looks like he just came jumping off the cover page of a fashion magazine?

As I was glowering at him in my thoughts, he looked over at me and smirked. Like he knew exactly what was going through my mind. Bella looked up at him, then turned to see what he was smirking at. Great, now she is going to agree that there is no way I can hold up against someone who looked like him.

But instead Bella glared at him, not angrily, but just like she wanted him to stop. "Edward!" She said warningly.

He turned to look at her and smiled. I heard Ziva take a sharp intake of breath at the force of his smile. Amazing. Even Ziva, one of the most practical and unromantic person I know was breathtaken at his looks.

"Yes, Bella?" He asked, half laughing at something I did not understand.

"Stop it!" She hissed at him. "Don't."

Ok, now I was confused. Stop what exactly?

He laughed again, a little longer, and then kissed her on the top of her head. My eyes narrowed at that, and I felt the envy bubble up inside me, though outwardly, I showed no emotion.

"You take care, Bella. I really do not want to see you in here again. Is that clear?" Edward said.

She glared at him again. "It wasn't my fault."

"I know it wasn't." He soothed her. He hugged her then, and whispered something in her ear. In my mind, I was imagining breaking every bone in his body. Slowly. And then burning him alive.

She blushed at whatever he said, and I felt my heart sink further. He let her go then. And she walked slowly towards us.

"Where to?" she asked all of us.

"You sure you up for it Bella?" I asked her gently. Even though I was pretty sure I had lost her, I still cared for her.

"Of course I am." She said indignantly.

"Well, then, we still have to go to Imelda's house. We have only one car now, so I will drive. Tony, get the car out." Gibbs said before I could insist for her to rest again. For whatever little good that would have done, considering the stubborn set of her mouth, she was coming no matter what anyone said.

"Hey Bella come walk with me. Let's go get the car." Tony said, leading Bella away, before I could protest. Ziva followed those two, and Gibbs left, I think to go look for some coffee.

Suddenly, I realized I was alone in the room with Dr. Cullen. _Edward._ I turned to leave but he stopped me.

"Tim? Agent McGee? Could I have a word with you?" He asked.

I sighed, and turned around to face him. "What do you want?" I asked him irritably.

"I can see your concern. I just wanted to clear things out. Bella and I had a history. But that is all it is. A history. Right now, I can safely say that neither of us harbors any romantic feelings for each other. However, and I will happily kill you if you tell Bella that I said this, if you hurt her, if you break her heart, then you will have to answer to me. I still care for her. My whole family does. She is a part of our family."

I was surprised at this, and some of my resentment against him ebbed away. "I won't do that. I'll die before I hurt her."

He nodded. I hoped he could feel the sincerity with which I said that, because I truly meant it.

He smiled at me suddenly. "Let me also warn you of another thing. Bella sort of needs 24-hr protection. She is like a danger magnet. And now that she has joined NCIS, I'm worried that it might just get worse. But I'm counting on you to watch out for her."

"I will. With everything I have." I promised him that.

We shook hands then. He turned to leave, and I hurried down to the car. If I wasn't there on time, Gibbs would very well leave me here in the hospital rather than wait for me to come. I got there right on time and entered the car just as Gibbs started screeching out the parking lot. Bella gave me a puzzled look, asking silently where I had been for so long. I just shook my head and hugged her to me, kissing the top of her head. We would have to wait until the end of the case to have the 'talk' about us. We could wait till then. For now, I was content.

**A/N: Well, there you have it! Did you guys like it? Have I driven all of you away by not updating? Please do review and lemme know if you're still here!**


	16. NOT Chapter 16

**A/N**

**I know, I know… This must be a huge shock to you all… I am alive after all. I have no excuses except for RL.. **** Don't shoot me!**

**This is just to ask if people are still interested? Should I update? Would anyone even bother to read? Please do let me know…**

**If you guys are interested, review or PM… I will update in the next 2 weeks, if I still have readers wanting to read!**

**Thanks a lot guys!**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: I was surprised, and pleased, by all your responses asking me to continue the story. You ask, and I shall deliver. Here is Chapter 16.**

**BPOV**

Tony took my arm and started dragging me towards the car before I could protest, Ziva following us silently. I looked behind me and realized Tim was nowhere to be seen. Tony and Ziva both noticed me looking, and smirked at each other before stopping and facing me together. Uh Oh.

"So, Bella? Who's the hot doctor?" Ziva asked.

I blushed, realizing it would be very difficult to explain why I have an ex-boyfriend who looks years younger than I am.

"Hot doctor? You know who he reminds me of? Pale-faced, weird color eyes, looks like he would sparkle in the sun doesn't he?" Tony said.

I looked at him in horror, while Ziva just looked confused. He could not possibly know the truth could he?

"What the hell are you talking about Tony?" Ziva asked irritably.

"Oh, come on! The 2008 movie about an 18-year-old girl falling in love with a vampire? Ziva don't tell me you haven't heard of Twilight!" Tony exclaimed.

I gave a veritable sigh of relief. Though that movie had hit a little close to home. I absently wondered what the vampire royalty that Edward had told me about on my birthday (hmm no wincing with pain, surprising!) thought about the movie.

"I did not know chick flicks were your thing Tony," Ziva said dryly.

"Chick flicks are not my thing. I just wanted to know what had all the girls been going crazy about!" Tony responded snappily.

I smothered a laugh at his defensiveness, hoping that the limelight had been successfully diverted from me. Alas, it was a vain hope.

"Anyway... The hot doctor Bella?" Ziva asked me again.

"He was an ex-boyfriend. We were together in high school," I replied, not looking either of them in the eyes. Best to give them as little details as possible, since I had not gotten any better at lying.

"High school! Were you in the same grade?" Ziva persisted. I knew she would not give up so easily,

"Yes of course! He has already qualified as a doctor. He just looks young for his age. His whole family does, actually." I tried sounding irritated at the questions. Sometimes, offense is the best defense!

"Are all three of you girls done gossiping? I thought I told you to get the car Tony." Gibbs appeared all of a sudden. He reminded me of a vampire, he was so quiet!

"On our way, Boss!" Tony said running to the parking lot. We too, literally had to run behind Gibbs to keep up with him.

Gibbs got in the driver's seat, Ziva sitting shotgun. Tony and I got into the backseat. Gibbs started accelerating the car, when the door suddenly opened and Tim rushed in. I looked at him, wondering where he was all this time. He just shook his head, and pulled me to him, hugging me and kissing my hair. I blushed, hoping against hope that Gibbs did not notice. This is not how I wanted my career to start here. My very first week, and I was getting a little too close to another male agent. This would not help my reputation with Agent Gibbs, or the Director. I would have to put a stop to this for the moment. I am attracted to Tim, and I'm pretty sure he was attracted to me; however, our feelings would have to be put on hold till I could establish myself as a good agent. I hoped I could explain this to him without hurting his feelings. I mean, I should have thought of this before us nearly kissing in the hospital. We have known each other for just two days, and our feelings were unusually strong for the short period of time we knew each other. Edward did assure me that Tim was a good guy. I knew that already, but the fact that Edward agreed with my opinion sealed the deal for me, since he could read the guy's mind, after all. I did not want to hurt Tim. But my career would have to come first.

I detached myself from him; not looking at him directly. I caught a flash of hurt across his face from the corner of my eyes before a stoic expression replaced it. I silently winced. This was exactly what I did not want, the awkwardness that was sure to set in, especially until we spoke. Hopefully, he would understand my point of view. I placed my hand on his knee and waited till he looked at me. I smiled at him reassuringly, silently trying to tell him through my eyes that we would talk later. He looked at me for a minute, and then gave a small smile in return, patting my hand.

"So, the back is getting a little crowded. Not used to there being three people here." Tony said. He had a look of mischief on his face, I'm sure that whatever he was thinking, it would not be good. I ignored him, not responding, and hoping that the others would not either.

"So what do you suggest Tony? Should we drop you off here and you want to run the rest of the way there?" Gibbs asked. Sigh. I knew my hope would be futile.

"No Boss. Definitely not. However, I think we would all be comfortable if there was more space to sit in. Now, we obviously cannot increase the amount of space available. So, I would willingly like to make a sacrifice to benefit all of us here." Tony said melodramatically.

"And what would that 'sacrifice' be Tony?" Ziva asked.

"That, I will not tell you. I will just demonstrate." Tony responded with a wink.

Before I could fathom what he could possibly mean, I gave a shriek as I felt Tony pick me up and place me on his lap.

"There. Now I'm sure Tim has more space to sit comfortably. Don't worry McGee, even though I am the senior field agent, I am willing to do this for my McProbie." Tony said, waggling his eyebrows at Tim.

Tim was glaring daggers at Tony, but could obviously not say much in front of Gibbs. I was, predictably, blushing. Ziva was shaking her head at Tony's antics.

Luckily at that moment, we reached Imelda's house.

"Tony, stop acting like a fool and let Swan go. Come on, let's go."

"On your six Boss!" We all scrambled to get out of the car and follow Gibbs to the door.

Imelda's house was beautiful to look at. It was two stories and painted light beige with brown. It had a wraparound porch, and a well-kept garden in the front.

"Nice place!" Tim whistled softly. "I wonder how she could manage such a place being a nanny."

"Maybe that's why we are here to question her Tim" Gibbs replied.

Gibbs knocked on the door and we all waited, but no-one responded. He knocked again, while we looked at each other with trepidation. Gibbs tried the knob but the door was locked.

"We have her contact details. Should I try calling her Boss?" I asked.

"Yeah, see if you are able to get in touch with her."

I tried calling but she did not pick up. I informed the rest of the team and we decided to spread around and look for either a way in, or if we could find any clues regarding Imelda's whereabouts.

Before we could do that however, we heard someone calling out. "Hello! Are you all here to meet Imelda? She is not at home."

It was a neighbour, a woman around thirty-five years of age. She had two young boys with her, one seemed to be around five, and the other around three years old.

"Yes, we noticed. I am Agent Gibbs, NCIS. This here is my team, Special Agent Anthony Di Nozzo, Agents Ziva David and Tim McGee, and probationary agent Bella Swan. We were looking for Ms Imelda. Would you know where we would be able to find her?" Gibbs said, showing his batch.

The woman smiled at us. "Hi, I am Sarah. I am Imelda's neighbour. Imelda went out-of-town a couple of days ago. She went to meet her sister, in Atlanta. Is something wrong? Is Imelda in any kind of trouble? She is a wonderful... Hey! Boys! No running around. Be careful!" Sarah started to go after her sons. She opened the front door, and told them to go wash up before she came in to give them something to eat.

"I'm sorry," she said, walking towards us again. "They are at that age where they have more energy than they need. Both of them drive me crazy. Imelda used to take care of them during the day when I was at work. She was wonderful with the kids. Oh, I'm rambling. I'm sorry. You never did tell me what was wrong." She looked at us questioningly.

"We just needed to speak with her regarding a case that we are working on. Do you know why she decided to visit her sister all of a sudden?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh no, the visit was not sudden. She had told me a month earlier that she would be going to Atlanta for a week." Sarah replied.

"Would you happen to have her sister's number, or any number we could contact Ms Imelda on?" Ziva asked.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Well, alright then. Thank you for your help Ma'am." We smiled at her, and walked back towards our car.

Well, that was a total waste of time.

**A/N: I said two weeks, and I updated in 2 days! I know that doesn't even begin to make up for the long period of time that I didn't update.. This is all that I have written. I do not have any chapters all ready to upload, so updates will be a little slow. I will try my best to give you an update as soon as I can.**

**Thank you for all the support and encouragement you guys have given me to continue this story! I love you all so much! :***

**Please, please review.**

**Love,**

**A.**


	18. Chapter 17

**3rd person POV**

The entire team was silent on the way back to headquarters. Everyone was busy trying to chalk out a plan for the next step.

On reaching the Navy Yard, everyone rushed to their desks. Gibbs was a getting frustrated that they had so far been unable to pin-point a murderer.

"Alright, I'll be going to Abby to see what she has found. In the meanwhile..."

"Working on finding out if we can figure out our shooter Boss" Tony said.

"Ziva..."

"I'll be trying to get through to Imelda or find details about her sister" Ziva replied.

"McGee"

"I will find out the financial history and footprints of Imelda. See if we can find something to strengthen her motive." McGee responded, his fingertips already flying across the keyboard.

"Good. Swan, you're with me. Let's go to the lab."

McGee's face looked up from his screen on hearing that, his eyes widening as they looked at Bella. As Bella started following Gibbs to the elevator, she distinctly heard Tony laughing and asking Tim, "So should we expect fireworks?"

**Tim POV**

On the way back to the Navy Yard, it was safe to say that probably for the first time, my mind was not on the case that we were currently working on. Instead, all the thoughts that were swirling around in my head were all concentrating on one thing. Or rather, one person.

At first, I had been worried about Bella meeting her ex-boyfriend again. Just before leaving the hospital however, he had sorted things out with me, telling me that there were no lingering romantic feelings between the two of them. I heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that the battle was won. Since Bella had not pushed me away at the hospital when I tried to kiss her, and her ex-boyfriend had felt the need to clear the air, I was sure that meant that she too has feelings for me. In the car, when I had hugged her, I had actually forgotten that Gibbs was in the car with us. It was just relief that had me pulling her to me, relief that she was safe, relief that I had not lost her to her ex even before getting my chance with her. When Bella pulled away, and refused to look at me, I felt hurt, maybe I misjudged her feelings. I then wiped all expression from my face, determined to not let anyone realize the truth. I felt a small hand on my knee. On looking down, I realized that Bella was trying to get my attention. I looked at her. She smiled at me softly, her eyes looking like they were trying to convey a message to me. The message being that I had not overshot my boundaries, but it was not the time, or the place to have a discussion like we needed. I searched her eyes for any signs of regret. On not finding any, I gave her a small smile in return, and patted her hand, indicating that I understood, and agreed.

On reaching the Navy Yard, we all scrambled to our desks to get to work. Gibbs was not a person to anger on the best of days, and this day was far from even that.

I was working on getting all of Imelda's financial history, when I suddenly heard Gibbs telling Bella to accompany him to Abby's lab. My head shot up, my eyes widening as I looked over at Bella. I recollected my recent conversation with Abby about Bella. Though Abby and I were long over, she had the tendency to be a little over-protective. Of not just me, but the whole team. I just hoped that she would not give Bella too hard a time.

As I watched Bella follow Gibbs to the elevator, Tony threw a paper ball at me, laughing. "So should we expect fireworks?"

"Shut up, Tony" I muttered to him.

He and Ziva just laughed.

**BPOV**

As we walked towards the elevator, I kept pondering on what Tony could mean by his comment. The only thing I could deduce, and it definitely did not make me happy, was that there was something between Abby and Tim. That definitely put a frown on my face.

When the elevators opened, we were blasted by really loud music, loud enough to make it difficult to think. On entering, I saw Abby. Abby wow... She was definitely someone I did not expect.

She was wearing black. From head to toe. Her hair was in two pigtails. She had multiple tattoos, the most prominent of which was a spider web tattoo on her neck. She was wearing something on her neck; I have no idea what, since I have never met anyone like her before. The closest that I could liken it to was a dog collar. But why would she be wearing a spiked dog collar on her neck? She had a short black miniskirt on and high platform boots. Since the music was really loud, she did not hear us coming.

Gibbs walked up to her in his usual quiet fashion and asked, "Hey Abbs, so what have you got?"

"Aaaah... Gibbs... I didn't know you were here. Make some noise please. You gave me heart palpitations."

"So what do you have Abby?" Gibbs asked again.

"Heart palpitations." **(A/N I know, I know, the line isn't mine, all credits to the show and the scriptwriters)**

She walked to the stereo to reduce the volume, and on turning back noticed me standing hesitantly at the entrance. Instantly, her demeanour changed. "Who are you?" She questioned me in a not-too-friendly manner.

"Um, hi, I'm Bella... Bella Swan. I'm the new probationary agent..." I started to introduce myself.

"Oh, yeah. Timmy told me about you. I'm Abby Sciuto. I'm the resident forensic expert. The go-to to find out anything! But you will get nothing from me if I do not get my Caf-Pow. This reminds me... Gibbs... Where is my Caf-Pow?" She turned to him.

He produced it from behind his back, and handed it to her. When did he even get it?

"Thanks, Gibbs. Now Bella, there are a few rules for this lab. Rule number one, you do not enter this lab without Caf-Pow. Rule number two, you do not touch Bert without my expressed written permission."

"Bert?" I looked bewildered.

"Bert. He is my hippo." She walks to the hippo and picks it up, giving it a squeeze. The hippo, well I can't really call the sound anything else, farts.

I blush at that, and smile at her. "Understood."

"Good." She smiles back at me and then walks up to me, grabbing me in a hug. "Welcome to the family, Bella."

"Ya, um, thanks." I stuttered out, blushing.

"So, I don't have anything new for you to go on Gibbs. The bullet that we retrieved from the tyre, matched the one that we got from our victim. So same gun, same shooter." Abby said, walking to her desk.

"Imelda has been out-of-town Boss, since the day of the murder. So it reduces the chances of her being the murderer." I said, looking up at him.

"That's what they neighbour told us. Till it is confirmed that she actually is in Atlanta for the past two days, we continue to keep her in our list of suspects." Gibbs said. "Thanks, Abbs." He kissed her on the cheek and walked towards the elevator.

I moved to follow him, shooting Abby a smile, when she asked me to wait for a little while with her in the lab, to "get to know each other a little better." I looked at Gibbs, hoping he would tell her that I needed to get back to work, but he just smiled at us, and got into the elevator to leave. As the doors shut, I turned to Abby with a feeling of foreboding.

This would not be good.

**(I was thinking of stopping it here, but it would have become too short a chapter for my liking)**

**BPOV continued**

I turned towards her, my reluctance showing clearly on my face. I gave her an uncertain smile, and then thought to myself, 'What the heck, I haven't done anything to be so worried about!'

I shook the indecisiveness from my expression, and then smiled a genuine smile and walked towards her, "So, Abby what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to talk to you about you and Tim." she said sternly.

"I do not see how that is any of your concern" I bristled.

"Tim and I are very close. We are all like family Bella. And I don't think he would like me telling you this, but he really does like you."

"I really like him too."

"I can sense a 'but' coming." Abby said.

"_But, _I have just joined NCIS, Abby. It's been all of 2 days. _That_ is how long we have known each other. This is my first big job, away from home. I need to prove myself first. I need to prove that I am here on my merit, not because my father is Chief of Police in a town in Washington. I really do not know what either Gibbs or the Director would think about me, if I start a relationship with another agent immediately on joining." I started passionately.

"So, let me get this straight. You do have feelings for Tim. You are just worried about your career." Abby cut in.

"Yes! I do not want to hurt him Abby. And I worry, that is precisely what I will do if I tell him this."

"Tim is a very understanding guy Bella. Really sweet, really sensitive. I'm sure if you tell him this, he will be supportive of you. And I do agree that it is too soon to think of a relationship, since it has been just two days." Abby tried to console me.

"You think so?" I looked at her hopefully.

"Yes. I'm sure of it. Come here you!" And she pulled me into another hug. I hugged her back, feeling oddly relieved after having this conversation with her.

Pulling back, she tells me, "I will not be mentioning this conversation to him. I think it will be better if you talk to him."

"Yes, please. I would like to tell him myself. Thanks, Abby!"

"So, what do you say we spice this up a little?" Abby had a mischievous look on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, everyone would be expecting a blow-up between us, considering mine and Tim's history..." she started. Before she could continue, the green-eyed monster reared up.

"Your and Tim's history?" I asked her, now it was my turn to look at her with hostility.

"Yes. But it was years ago. Like I said, we are family now. No romance here at all, hun."

"Oh ok then, good." I replied, slightly placated.

"Sooo, like I was saying, they would be expecting a blow-up. What do you say we act like there was one? It would drive Tim crazy! His best friend, _obviously me_, and his future girlfriend locking horns! He wouldn't know what to do!" she said, smiling devilishly.

I giggled. "This sounds like fun!"

"Oh it will be Bella. Just wait and watch!"

**A/N: - So what do you think? Not what you expected for Bella and Abby's meeting, was it? What do you think they are going to do? Poor Tim! ;)**

**Please review and let me know of your thoughts and opinions! I was disappointed at the look of reviews for the previous chapter.. Please let me know what your thoughts are! **

**Thanks. **

**Love, **

**A.**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N**

**First, as usual, I would like to give a shout out to all those who reviewed, or added me to their favorites or alerts! Your continued support is amazing guys..**

**Second, I just remembered, I haven't added a disclaimer for a while. So just a reminder. I don't own anything. Except the plot for this fanfic!**

**Oh, and Yay! I crossed 100 reviews! For my first story, I'm amazed by all you guys!**

**On with the story now...**

**Tim POV**

I was looking up Imelda's financial history. At the back of my mind, I was worrying about Bella and Abby being in the same room, without me being there. Actually, I was more worried that their first meeting would be in Gibbs' presence. I did not want his attention on me or Bella at the moment.

"Look at McWorry over there. Not able to concentrate on your work?" Tony sneered at me.

"Tony, why don't you concentrate on finding out who shot the tyre to Gibbs' car, instead of worrying about me?" I replied with false calm, not looking away from my screen.

"Now that is unfortunately a dead-end. There was nothing to be found on the scene, except for the bullet, which is now being processed in Abby's lab. There isn't anything else for me to go on," he said, looking dejected.

Ziva, who was on the phone. hung up just as Gibbs exited the elevator and came towards us. He heard the tail end of Tony's conversation and told us, "Abby has finished processing the bullet. It is shot from the same gun that shot our vic."

"The same gun? That means we can rule out Imelda, right Boss." Tony asked.

"No, till we are sure that what the neighbor told us has been proven to be true, we still suspect her Tony." Gibbs responded.

"Ah, Boss, I may be able to help with that." I said, getting up from my desk. Imelda's credit card was used to buy a ticket for Atlanta for the day of the murder, and she has various purchases made in shops and eating joints in Atlanta for the last two days."

"I also, can help rule out Imelda. I just spoke to her sister. Imelda was next to her, and her sister, Beth, handed her the phone when I asked if she could confirm her whereabouts." Ziva said. "Imelda was shocked to hear about Lance Corporal John Smith's death. She sounded quite shaken up on the phone, and assured me that she could catch the first flight for his funeral, and to help us in the investigation."

"Well, so then, we can rule out Imelda, I guess." Gibbs said. "By when will she be here?"

"She would be here by tomorrow morning." Ziva replied. (A/N Bear with me here, I have no idea how long it actually takes)

I then asked the question that was fore-most on my mind since we saw Gibbs, but knew he would have chewed my head off if I had asked any earlier. "Uh, Boss, where is Bella?"

He just looked at me seriously for a moment, and said, "Bella is in the lab with Abby. Abby wanted to speak to her alone, to get to know her a little better." He then smirked at me, as I let out a sigh. "Good luck McGee!" He said, walking off.

Tony and Ziva laughed at the expression on my face. I made a face at them "Haha, very funny, you two." That just made them laugh harder.

We all walked back to our desks, with me debating whether I should just leave all this, and run down to the lab. Before I could decide, the elevator doors dinged open, and I looked up hopefully, expecting Bella to come out. My heart sank to see that not only was it not Bella, instead it was Abby. A very angry looking Abby.

She marched towards me and stood in front of my desk with her hands on her hips. Ziva and Tony also looked at her, shocked at the angry look on her face.

"Timothy McGee. In all these years, have I taught you nothing?" she glared at me.

"Wh... What happened?" I stuttered. Surely things could not have gone that badly.

"I have told all you guys so many times. We do not accept interns. Or probies. Or anyone new. We are complete. We do not need anyone in our family." she said.

"But Abby, what happened? Did something go wrong with Bella?" I was shocked. I did not expect this level of hostility from Abby.

"All interns so far have turned out to be creeps. Now Bella is forced upon our team by the director. She has got to go!" she declared.

"But... but.." I couldn't think of anything to say.

"No buts, Timmy."

"Abby, don't make a scene."

"Too late, McGee! I am in *full* scene mode!" she said throwing her arms up. She walked away muttering to herself about 'stupid new probies'.

All three of us looked at each other. Tony and Ziva still looked stunned. "I don't understand." Tony said. "How did someone as timid as Swan manage to rub Abby the wrong way?"

"I have no idea." Ziva said, shaking her head.

**BPOV**

After having the heart-to-heart with Abby, I wanted to go meet Ducky. Ducky knew my father since I was a kid. I had first met him when I was eleven. Ducky used to make the few summers I came home to meet dad a little more interesting for me, regaling me with stories from various experiences that he had as a kid.

When I walked into autopsy, I was hoping Ducky would not be busy working on a body, as though I had gotten better at tolerating blood, I still did not want to risk getting light-headed by the smell. I cautiously entered, and sighed with relief when I saw Ducky going over some papers.

"Ducky!" I said, going over to him enthusiastically.

"Isabella! You are a sight for sore eyes, my dear. How are you?" he said, engulfing me in a hug. He was one of the few people I allowed to call me Isabella, primarily because I had been unable to convince him otherwise.

"I'm doing good now, Ducky." I said, before wincing, hoping he had not caught my slip.

"Ah, yes. Those were very difficult months for your father. You do look better now." He said, searching my face for an answer.

"You... you knew about what happened." I said, hesitantly sitting adjacent to him.

"Yes. Charles had contacted me. He was very worried about you. He felt unable to help you, as he felt that he himself had not given you a very good example on how to get over someone. He spoke to me, hoping I could give him some advice on how to handle a teenage daughter's broken heart."

I grimaced and responded, "I didn't know I was that bad. I mean, I knew I had been bad, I just hadn't expected him to worry quite so much."

"But why wouldn't he? He is your father, Isabella, and he loves you dearly. Yes, he might be a little reluctant, or rather, unable to show how he feels, but that does not infer that he does not care, does it."

I nodded, guilt rushing through me on how I had worried my father, and how out of it I was, that I never even noticed his worry.

"You know, this reminds me of something I read in a book by Patti Roberts, 'The Angels are here.' She said, 'Sometimes, the only soul that can mend a broken heart is the one that broke it. For they are the ones holding all the pieces. ' Closure is very important my dear. And I believe, you got some form of closure today?" he asked, looking at me expectantly.

I flushed. "How did you know I met Edward today?"

"Ah, Edward. The infamous Dr. Cullen was the one who broke your heart?"

"Yes, but, well I can't explain the whole situation to you Ducky. It is a little complicated. But today, when I looked at him, I realized, that I can be whole without him too. But I agree with you, I might not have been able to say this with this confidence if I had not met him." I admitted.

"Yes, I'm sure of that. I'm proud of you, my dear girl. Do call and alleviate your father's worries, won't you?"

"Yes, I will call him as soon as I get to go home."

"Now, how are things with you and our very own Agent McGee?"

"Ducky!" I exclaimed, mortified. Does everyone know?

"He was worried about you after the crash Isabella. Abby was informed regarding the accident, and she informed me, as she knew we knew each other prior to you coming here."

"Right now, there is nothing Ducky. Like I told Abby, I have my career to focus on."

"Does Timothy know of this?"

"No... We haven't been able to talk privately, and this is not a conversation I want to have with him in the squad room!"

"I agree, my dear. But ensure that you tell him once this case is over."

"I will." I assured him.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and a promise for a dinner-date after the case was done before leaving for the squad room. In the elevator, I suddenly remembered Abby's plan. I smudged my make-up a little to look like I was crying. I was not wearing a lot, just some eye-liner and mascara. I pinched my cheeks and nose to make them look red and blotched.

When the elevator doors opened, I put my head down and quietly walked to my desk. All three immediately looked at me. (Gibbs wasn't around, thankfully).

"Bella!" Tim immediately got up and rushed to me. I felt a surge of guilt at tricking him like this, but clamped it down. Tony and Ziva looked on in a concerned manner. 'Come on Bella! Prove that your acting skills have gotten better over the years!' I gave myself a pep-talk.

I brushed past Tim, ignoring him. He look worried.

"Bella. What's wrong?" Tony asked me.

"Nothing." I said, not looking at anyone.

"Where were you? Gibbs came back ages ago!" Ziva asked, looking at me searchingly.

"After Abby and I... talked... I needed some time to myself." I said.

She continued looking at my face, and suddenly, there was a twitch of her lips, like she was holding back a smile.

"Uh huh." She said disbelievingly.

"Bella, please tell me what happened?" Tim knelt down next to me.

"I don't want to talk about it!" I snapped at him. "I know I am just a probationary agent, nothing more here. So don't try to act like any of you feel otherwise. Atleast someone had the guts to say it on my face!"

"Bella please... Did Abby say something, do something?" Tim started, when Abby returned.

"Timmy! I can't believe you are doing this to me! You are actually asking her what I did to her? Where is the loyalty?" Abby said, throwing her hands up in the air. Wow, she is a good actress. For a second, even I believed that she was upset.

Gibbs entered the squad room then. "Come on everyone, go get a good night's rest. Tomorrow, be here bright and early. Hopefully Imelda will give us something to work on."

We all picked up our bags to leave, Tim still looking between me and Abby, not knowing what to do. Abby looked relentless. I gave her a pleading look, my heart softening at Tim's expression. She huffed at me, before rolling her eyes in silent agreement.

"Oh, come on Bella, we have got to go." She said.

I smiled at Abby, while the rest looked bewildered, except Ziva who just smiled and shook her head. I knew she had guessed!

"Wait, what?" Tiny said, looking between the two of us. Tim looked too shocked to say anything.

"Oh nothing. I tried to tough it out with Bella, and she managed to make me invite her over to my place to stay till she finds an apartment. For a newbie, she ain't bad."

"Huh?" was Tim's eloquent answer.

All of us laughed. "Like I said Timmy, I don't like probies. Normally. "

I looked at her poutingly. "Oh come on Swan, you ain't a probie. You're family!" she said. She swung her arm over my shoulder and we walked out, leaving behind a shell-shocked Tim and Tony, and a smirking Gibbs and Ziva.

**A/N: - So, how did you find Chapter 18.. More of a filler chapter. The mystery will be back on track from the next chapter, I assure you. **

**Please, please do review. It encourages me to write!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**BPOV**

I arrived at work to see that only Tim was there already. I had spent a fun night at Abby's. I could see us becoming great friends. Though I was a little horrified to see that she had coffins as beds. I could not help but giggle, remembering asking Edward if he slept in coffins when I first visited the Cullen House. Ah, the irony!

I hesitated at the entrance of the squad room, wondering if this was the right time to have the discussion with Tim. I sighed, there was no point in procrastinating, and it was unfair to keep Tim hanging like this. Cruel, even.

Tim swiveled in his chair at my sigh, looking up from his computer, seeming surprised to see me there so early.

"Hey!" I waved to him, with an awkward smile on my face.

"Hey Bella! How was your evening yesterday?"

"It was good. Abby and I got along really well!" I said, now smiling a genuine smile.

"I'm glad." Tim smiled back at me. "You guys gave me a real scare last night!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said, smiling widely.

"No, you're not..." Tim said, shaking his head at me.

"Well, actually, you're right, I'm not. The expression on yours and Tony's face was hilarious!" I giggled, remembering the previous night.

The silence got awkward again. He kept looking at me, trying to figure out what was running through my mind, I was trying to avoid looking at him directly. "Oh come on Bella, grow up already!" I yelled at myself.

I passed Tim's desk, keeping my bag there, before dragging my chair towards him and sitting there.

"Tim..." I started to say and stopped, trying to find the right words to use.

Tim held my hand in his and made me look at him. "Bella, can I ask you something?"

"Ya, sure." I replied.

"Do you regret what happened in the hospital? Are you getting back with _Dr. Cullen_?" His voice got bitter towards the end.

This is what I was afraid of. "Oh no, no Tim no. I... I know this is going to sound clichéd, but it really is not about you, it's about me. Wait Tim!" I said, as he tried to withdraw his hand from mine. "Give me a moment, please."

He nodded, looking at me silently, a pained look in his eye.

I closed my eyes, gathering my thought for a minute. I then looked straight at him and said, "Edward and I were together in high school. We had a difficult break-up. I am not going to deny that I was crushed when it ended. But end it did, and when Edward and I met yesterday after so many years, yes there were nostalgic feelings of what could have been. But that ship has sailed, Tim. I do love him, but I am not in love with him anymore. I am not, and will not be getting back with him. I have also started having feelings for you. You are the first person who I could think of getting in a relationship with after Edwards left. That is not something to be taken lightly. But I have just started here at NCIS; this is my first case, my third day even. I am a probationary agent, Tim. How would it look if I start a relationship as soon as I get here? _That_ is why I withdrew a little. This is my first big job, away from home. I cannot afford to screw this up. I need to, at least for a little while, concentrate solely on my career here. Please understand, I had not meant to lead you on earlier."

He continued looking at me, silently digesting what I have just told him. He ran his free hand through his hair and leaned back on his chair. "Ok... Ok then. You are sure that is the reason why?"

I looked at him in the eyes as I answered, so he would have no reason to doubt me. "Absolutely. No other reason."

"Alright, I guess I can work with that. We can still be friends right? Till you are ready for more?" he asked me.

"The best of friends. I won't settle for anything less." I smiled at him. "If, no, when I will be ready for more, you will be the first to know."

"Ok..." He smiled back at me. "I can't say that I am not disappointed, but I do understand where you are coming from, Bella. I guess I also agree with you, that it might not look too good in front of the Director."

At that moment, the elevator doors dinged again and Ziva entered. She saw our position and stopped abruptly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

Tim and I both sprang apart. "No, nothing to interrupt here." he said. "By the way Bella, you had asked me to help you track an e-mail earlier?"

"Oh yes. It was sent to my personal e-mail ID. Now I'm even more lost as to who could have sent it to me, as my first guess was shot down."

"Is someone bothering you Bella?" Ziva asked concerned.

"Oh no, Ziva. I just do not know who the e-mail is from. There is nothing untoward in it." I sat at my desk and turned the computer on, as Tony entered, a big smile on his face and a coffee in his hand.

"Someone had a good night, it seems!" Tim teased Tony.

"And someone didn't." Gibbs said, entering suddenly. "Imelda is here. Let's go. We have got to go question her."

"To her place Boss?" Tony asked.

"No, she has come here directly from the airport."

We went to the conference room where Imelda was sitting, a cup of tea in front of her. She looked worn out from the travelling. Her eyes looked blood-shot, like she had spent the whole night crying. She was wearing a brown overcoat, her hair dishevelled. Gibbs went in to speak with her, while we stood at the door.

"Good morning, Ma'am," he said. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs and this here is my team. I would like to start off by giving you my condolences for your loss."

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs." Imelda replied, sniffling into her handkerchief. "John might not have a stellar reputation, but to me he would always be the little boy who would come crying to me, wondering why his parents did not love him enough to take him with them whenever they left. He used to be a good boy, you know. Then the teenage years hit, and he became angry. All the time. He never had any trouble bad enough to be reported. But, high school was very difficult for him."

"And what about after his education was done?" Gibbs asked her.

"I was shocked the day John came up to me, telling me he had signed up for the Marine Corps. I had never been so conflicted in my life. On one hand, I was so proud of him, he was finally doing something good, and I hoped that it was the end of his 'I am a spoilt-brat' years. I knew the Corps would not judge him on the basis of the money his parents had, would not let him get away with a lot of the stuff he had been pulling the years prior to joining the Corp. On the other hand, every parent worries when their kid joins the forces. It's a moment of pride, but it is also the moment you know that every second you will wait with your heart in your throat, till you see that your child is back safe and sound. John may not be my son biologically, but he is the closest thing to one for me."

"You were at his house on the day of the murder?" Gibbs prompted her gently.

"Yes. I wish I had never left. There were a couple of men who had come by his house when I was there." Imelda said, suddenly averting her eyes.

"We know he was a meth-addict. We also know he paid off his debts using your money." Gibbs told her.

Imelda seemed to physically deflate. "Yes, he was. I tried so much to correct him, to make him understand that he was ruining his life, but ever since he came back home this time, he seemed disturbed. He had mellowed down, comparatively, since joining the Corp. But since the past few months, I could see the previous John breaking through. The angry one. I wasn't sure if it was a consequence or a cause of the drugs. I tried my best, he promised me that this was the last time, that he would clean-up his act."

"The drug dealers we spoke to, the one John cleared his debts with the day he died, they said you were present at the time of the pay-off. And that you were clearly angry at that time." Gibbs said. "Was it because he used your money?"

"Of course not! Obviously I was angry. If you found out that the boy you have considered your son your entire life had a drug habit, and had a life-threat on him for having a debt with the drug dealers, wouldn't you also be angry? I was angry, not because he used my money. But because he was in that situation in the first place. For me, money is not as important as that boy, my little John, whom I lost that day!" Imelda cried out, tears running down her cheeks.

"So then, when did you leave from his house?" Gibbs asked.

"I left because I had a flight to Atlanta that day. I had called a cab, and I left when he got a visitor. It was a tall man. He also seemed from the forces. He looked very angry when I opened the door for him. Do you think he could be the one who killed my boy?" Imelda asked, getting agitated.

"We are looking into all possibilities at the moment Ma'am." Gibbs slid a photo of Tom across the table to Imelda. "Was this the person who visited him?"

"Yes, yes he was the man who visited him. He beat up my Johnny. The whole house was trashed." Imelda replied.

"How do you know that?" Gibbs perked up. "You said you left when he got there."

"Yes, I left. But I came back within 15 minutes, because I had forgotten some gifts I had gotten for my sister at John's place. When I reached there, this man was nowhere to be seen. John was sitting up on the floor, holding his head which was bleeding. The whole place was a mess. I rushed to John, tried to call an ambulance. John did not let me. He said that it would make the situation worse than it already was. It was partly his fault that it happened. And that he would get in trouble more than the other man if this was reported. I assumed it had something to do with his drug problem. I did not want to leave, but John insisted. He actually dragged me to the door, and shut it on my face, telling me to leave so that I didn't miss my flight. Oh, I wish I hadn't listened to him! "She cried, holding her head in her hands.

"Is there anything else you can tell us Ma'am, anything at all that you think could help us catch his murderer?" Gibbs asked her.

She thought for a while. "I do not know if it is related. But John was seeing someone. He did not tell me her name. This was the previous time he had come home. It was the first time I had ever seen him get so serious about a girl. He did not tell me much about her, just that they had to keep their relationship a secret at the moment, as it would cause a huge problem if people found out. I pressed him on this issue, but he did not say anything more than that. This time, when I visited him, he got very angry, shattered a glass on the floor, and told me to never mention her again. I am guessing it did not end well for them."

"Any description, anything for us to get a hold of her?"

"I'm afraid not. Nothing that I know about, at least." Imelda replied, shaking her head.

"Alright Ma'am. Thank you so much. If you think of anything else that can help us, please do give me a call." Gibbs said, standing up and handing her his card.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs."


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: - First I would like to thank my very faithful reviewers, YunaNeko, lyssmcgrath, lis3011, JustSearching, and XxJasper'sAngelxX. Your reviews and your support mean a lot to me.**

**So yay! I updated early this time! I will try my best to update as soon as I can, but I do not have chapters already written. I'm uploading as I write, so sometimes there will be delays when RL sets in. I'm a dentist, and I'm practicing currently and also studying to appear for MBA entrance exams, which I will be appearing for next year. These are the toughest entrance exams in India. So there will be times when an update is delayed, especially if I have a lot of patients... **

**Disclaimer: - I do not own anything, except the plot for this story. All mistakes are my own..**

**On with the story….**

**BPOV**

We walked back to our desks in the squad room, all thinking hard about what our next step could be.

"We have never been so stumped in a case." Tony said dejectedly.

"We need to get the murder weapon. If we can find that, then it would help us to at least have a next step to go to. Imelda has not given us much to go on. She has eliminated Tom Winston though. According to her, our victim was alive when Tom had already left after he beat him up. I guess he was telling the truth then." Ziva said.

On reaching the squad room, we see that Abby is waiting for us, looking excited.

"Guys, guys, guys! Guess what I've got for you?" she said, jumping around, looking at each of us excitedly.

"Um, the murder weapon?" Tim said, jokingly. Yeah right, our luck would be that good.

"How did you guess?" Abby said, looking deflated. Wait, what?

"You got the murder weapon? Where did you find it?" I asked her, getting excited myself.

"Now, when we are looking for a murder weapon with a certain peculiarity, we can put it up on all the databases. So, if anyone else finds the weapon, we get notified! And someone found our gun which was shooting a bullet with the exact same striation that we found on the bullet in our victim. I have requested that gun to be sent to us. I do not think I will get much from it, but I won't be satisfied till I check it myself."

"So... Where did you find it?" Ziva asked impatiently.

"They found it next to another murder victim. He was using it apparently. Did not do him any good, from what it seems. They are transferring the case to us officially, since he would then be a suspect in our case. The body and the murder weapon are on their way to us!" Abby said.

"Well, at least now we might have something to go on!"

"Yes, till then go home, get some rest. I am sure that once Ducky and Abby are let loose on the evidence, they will find a lot of work for us to do. Go, go on." Gibbs said, appearing in his usual quiet manner.

"But, it's the middle of the day Boss" Tony said, looking shocked.

"I know that Tony. I also know that I might probably have you back here to work even if it's the middle of the night, if either Abby or Ducky find something. So it's up to you, if you want to sit here twiddling your thumbs. Or, you want to take advantage of the free time we have right now."

"On our way, Boss" Tony said, and we all rushed to leave, before Gibbs changed his mind.

**Tim POV**

We were on our way down in the elevator, Tony and Ziva were busy on their phones, and Bella seemed to be contemplating something. _Bella. _I sighed mentally. I agreed with her logic regarding our relationship, or the lack of it, thoroughly, but I did find it very disappointing. I have not been attracted to someone this way for a long time. Even now, I could not take my eyes off her, the way she twirled a lock of her hair on her finger, or the way she took her bottom lip between her teeth, made me want to forget everything else and just...

_Whack_

Tony just whacked me on the back of my head.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" I glared at him.

"Well, I'm sure our new probie over here would not prefer a McStalker Tim." He hissed at me softly.

I blushed, thankful that for once Tony was thoughtful enough to keep his volume low so that Bella did not hear him. Ziva did though, and started sniggering, causing Bella to look at us questioningly.

Luckily, the elevator doors opened just then, and I escaped, hoping that neither of them would mention anything to Bella. I walked ahead, while Tony, Ziva and Bella ambled along behind me, Ziva and Tony giving Bella ideas on how she could spend a free afternoon, as she was new in the city. I'm sure, that at this point, asking her to spend it with me would not be very well received. As we walked to the parking lot, I noticed a small disturbance near security. Someone was trying to enter, and did not have the authorization to do so.

"Look, I've told you, we do not care who you are, or who you know in the building, you cannot go up without authorization!" The guard told the person trying to enter, seeming exasperated with him.

I looked at the guy he was speaking to. Or rather, the guys he was speaking to. There were two of them, both very pale. The first was a big, burly man, a very big, very burly man, about 6'5" in height, muscled all over. He had curly hair, which were dark brown, almost black in colour. He had his arms folded over his chest, an annoyed look on his face, which looked out-of-place. I found that highly odd, as I had never seen him before, so why did I feel it was out-of-place?

With him was another man, he was about 6'3" tall, with blonde hair that most woman would refer to as honey-blond in colour. He was also muscular, but leaner in built than the first. He also seemed the more dangerous of the two.

Suddenly, I heard a squeal behind me, that I realized would be Bella (as Ziva was hardly the kind to ever let out a squeal). At that sound, both men turned towards us. I noticed both of them had golden eyes. The more muscular of the two smiled at us, and he had two very out-of-place dimples on his cheeks. Okay, wait, why was he smiling at us?

I got my answer when I felt a gush of wind pass me, and realized that it was Bella running towards the men. She runs straight into the arms of the dark-haired guy, much to my annoyance. He picked her up and twirled her around, both of them laughing with delight.

"Emmett!" Bella squealed, _again_.

"Hey, my Bellsy Bear! You're looking gorgeous girl!" _Emmett _said, finally putting her down. Bella, as I have come to expect from her now, blushed.

"Bellsy Bear?" Tony said, trying to suppress a smile. Oh, he is not going to let Bella forget this!

"You look the same Emmett! And Jasper too! Hey Jasper!" Bella said, hugging Jasper too now, the blond man who was there. What's with her and hugging people?

"Hey Darlin'!" Jasper said to Bella, with a southern accent. When are they going to let her go? These people hug a lot. I frowned at my own thoughts. Being friends looks like it isn't going to be easy. I sighed.

Ziva patted my hand, and smiled at me reassuringly. We started walking towards where the three of them were standing.

"Hey, _Bellsy Bear_! You gonna introduce us to the hulk here?" Tony called out.

A scarlet red Bella let go of Jasper, and turned to us. Emmett was sniggering, and Bella hit him across his chest. It seemed to hurt her more, from the way she was shaking her hand after hitting him.

"Guys, this is the team I am working with at NCIS. This is Special Agent Anthony Di Nozzo, Special Agent Timothy McGee, and Agent Ziva David", Bella said, gesturing to each of us as she called out our names. We all smiled at them while Bella introduced them to us. "This is Emmett Cullen and Jasper Hale. They are Edward's brothers."

Well now that she mentioned their names, I could see the family resemblance, the pale skin, the eye colour.

"Hale? How can he be Dr. Cullen's brother?"

"He isn't Carlisle's brother." Bella replied, looking bewildered.

Emmett nudged her. "Hun, I think they mean Edward, not Carlisle."

Bella blushed again. I think she is red more often than not. "Yeah, I'm not used to that thought yet. Dr. Cullen was always Carlisle to me." she replied to them and then looked at Ziva. "Jasper is Edward's adoptive brother. He and his twin sister Rosalie were adopted by the Cullens."

"Oh, ok." Ziva replied.

"By the way, where is Alice?" Bella asked Jasper, looking up at him.

"She is back at the house, getting it ready for a visit from you." He replied, winking at her. I didn't really understand what he meant by that.

"You guys don't need to do that!" Bella said.

"Yes, but you know, and we know, that we are not stupid enough to get in the way of Alice when she is on one of her shopping frenzies." Emmett replied, shuddering at some seemingly horrifying memory.

"Oh, yeah, that's for sure!" Bella replied, grimacing.

"So, you coming over then? We have a lot to discuss Bells." Emmett said, giving her puppy dog eyes. Do I have competition from all the _Cullen _brothers?

"Ugh, Emmett, not the puppy-dog eyes! Aren't you a little old for that?" Bella replied, trying not to look at him.

"I'm only as old as I feel baby!" Emmett said, smiling at her. "Come on, Bella. I want to spend some time with my baby sister."

I sighed a mental sigh of relief at the words 'baby sister'. Ziva and Tony smirked at me knowingly.

"Oh, alright!" Bella gave in. Emmett cheered, giving Jasper a high-five behind Bella's back, before dragging her to a huge jeep. And by huge, I mean monstrous.

"Whoa, you drive that?" Tony said, his eyes as big as saucers.

"Yep, my pride and joy. My Rosie keeps her running perfectly for me." Emmett said, his pride reflecting on his face.

"Wait, Rosalie is here too? Oh, of course she is! Maybe I shouldn't come." Bella said, looking flustered.

"I think you should Bella. You will be pleasantly surprised. Rosie has been wanting to apologize to you for a while now." Emmett said to her softly. Bella looked surprised at that.

"Rosalie is?" Tony questioned, being his usual nosy self.

"Rosie is my wife." Emmett said, smiling widely.

My phone suddenly rang, I looked at the ID it was Abby. "What's up Abby?"

"The body and murder weapon is here. Gibbs wants all of you back here pronto." she said. "Where are you guys?"

"We are still at the parking lot. Haven't even left yet!"

"McGee! You know Gibbs never gives such chances, you shouldn't dawdle around."

"Yeah, we'll come on up!" I sighed, looking at the rest of the team, hanging up the phone.

"We've got to go back up?" Bella asked, looking upset that she wasn't getting to go to her ex-boyfriend's place.

"Seems like it! Knew it was too good to be true!" Tony said, kicking a stone away in frustration.

"I'll take a rain-check, guys?" Bella said, looking at Emmett and Jasper.

"Yeah sure, no problem. Be careful out there Bella." Emmett said hugging her to his side.

"Yah, restraining Alice would be difficult, if she _hears_ something else darlin'." Jasper drawled.

"Yeah, I'll do my best. You know me, danger magnet." Bella said, smiling.

"That we do girl!"

Goodbyes said, hugs done, we finally make our way back up. This looks like it's going to be another long day.

**A/N: - So how is it progressing for you guys? Anyone glad to see Emmett and Jasper back in the story? Emmett is one of my favourite characters, he is just so lovable! And Jasper is the epitome of tall, quiet and sexy for me! ;)**

**Please review guys. I got a lot of reviews for the author note, asking me to continue the story. Not so many for the chapters. Please do tell me how you feel about the way the story is progressing. Your thoughts matter!**

**Love,**

**A. **


	22. Apologies!

**Hey guys! Sorry, this isn't an update. I'm away from a computer right now, actually typing this on my phone, just so I can let you guys know I will update as soon as I can! **

**Really sorry guys! Please bear with me... :)**

**Love,**

**A**


	23. Chapter 21

**A/N: - Hey guys sorry about the wait... My computer crashed, and I was unable to type till today.. So as soon as I got back from work, I immediately got a chapter out for you guys.. Hope you like it.. Please lemme know what your thoughts are!**

**Thanks to all those who have added this story to their favorites or are following this story.. A shout out to my darling reviewers JustSearching, XxJasper'sAngelxX, lyssmcgrath, and YunaNeko.**

**BPOV**

I could not believe the turns my life was taking ever since I shifted to this city! My life has gotten better by leaps and bounds. I had gotten better, hung out with the wolf pack quite a bit, though they all slowly imprinted, even Jake, and it just hurt to see them so much in love with their girls, knowing what I had lost. It had turned to nostalgia, not for losing Edward, but for losing that kind of love.

But since coming here, I met the team, became really good friends with everyone here, met Tim too, met Edward again, and finally got the closure I had needed with Edward all those years ago. I was beyond excited to see Emmett and Jasper in the parking lot today. I missed Emmett. He was like the big brother I always wanted. I could confidently say I knew him well, and I knew he would have jumped at the first opportunity he would have gotten to come meet me. I was a little surprised to not see Alice here, I expected her to be the next one to meet me, but she must have her reasons for not coming, Alice never does anything without a reason.

I was a little worried however, if I was to, in the future, get into a relationship with Tim, or in fact any other human male, how would my friendship with the Cullens survive. With them never-changing, never growing any older, whoever I was with was bound to notice. We could not put another person in danger for knowing about vampires. And I did not want to give them up. I decided I would ask Alice. She always would be the best bet for helping me choose the right path for my future.

I was brought out of my musings by Tony clearing his throat while we were in the elevator.

"So Bellsy Bear? What's with the huge hulking bodyguards in the parking lot?" Tony asked me, teasingly.

"Oh! Well, Emmett is Edward's elder brother. Jasper's sister is Rosalie, she is dating Emmett. Jasper is dating Edward and Emmett's sister Alice. Alice used to be my best friend at one point." I sighed, pointedly ignoring the teasing nickname.

"Are the sisters as hot?" Tony asked me eagerly.

I raised an eyebrow at him in response. "Are you saying you find my brothers hot, Tony?"

Ziva and Tim both laughed at that, while Tony had a 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' expression on his face. "I said nothing of that sort." Tony replied stiffly, straightening non-existent wrinkles from his clothes.

We reached the floor for Abby's lab and got off. As soon as we entered, it seemed like Abby was there waiting for us. When she saw all of us there, she suddenly turned and asked us where her Caf-Pow was. Uh oh.

"Um, we thought you called us here to the lab in a hurry Abbs. We haven't gotten the Caf-Pow with us." Tim said, looking worried for his life, as were Tony and Ziva.

"You haven't? You know the rules. No Caf-Pow, no Abby miracles!" Abby said holding her palm up.

"Oh, come on Abby. We promise, we will get you double next time." Tony said to her in a slight pleading tone.

But Abby did not seem ready to budge. "No. I do not change my rules for anyone." She turned straight to me then. "Bella, can you please go get me the Caf-Pow?" she asked, smiling at me sweetly.

"Abby..." Ziva interrupted.

"No, let her go." Gibbs said. Wait, he was already in the lab? How did I not notice him? For that matter, the other three seemed as startled. So they hadn't noticed him either. Wow, that's some freaky ability.

"Gibbs?" Ziva questioned him.

"The sooner Abby gets her Caf-Pow, the sooner we all get some answers. Swan, off you go. Get the girl her Caf-Pow." Gibbs told me.

"Yes, Boss." I replied, remembering that Gibbs did not like being called Sir.

I left, my gut telling me that the entire time, Abby and Gibbs were hiding something. So why send only me away? Was it something about me? Were they unhappy with my performance? Or, and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought, had Gibbs realized what had happened between me and Tim, and was about to take some action against me. I mean let's face it, Tim was already a Special Agent, and he has worked with them for years. I had been here less than a week. We all knew who would take the fall for what happened.

Yes, this did not look good for my future at N.C.I.S.

**TIM POV**

As Bella left Abby's lab to get her Caf-Pow. Tony, Ziva and I exchanged silent looks with each other. There was something definitely up with Abby and Gibbs. While Abby was a little over-zealous about her Caf-Pow, she would never send someone away to go and get it instead of just telling us her findings, albeit after grumbling a little. So for both of them to team up to send Bella away, something was definitely up.

"What's up Boss?" Tony asked what was on all our minds. "Why send Bella away?"

Abby was the one who responded. "Like you guys know, we found the murder weapon. I have shot a bullet and confirmed it myself." She gestured to a Glock lying on her table. "That is definitely our murder weapon for our first victim, Lance Corporal John Smith." The only fingerprints on the gun are those of our current victim. His name is Dave. Dave Jones. He is currently unemployed, and has been so for a while. He lives on the streets, and seems the kind who would kill someone for money."

"Okay, so is he the one who killed our Lance Corporal?" Ziva asked.

"No, we cannot link him to our victim in any way. McGee would have to go through his finances and see if we are able to find someone who might have paid him to kill our victim." Gibbs replied.

"I can do that." I said. "I still cannot understand why we sent Bella away though."

Abby and Gibbs exchanged looks. Then Abby sighed and replied. "Do you remember Tim, that Gibbs and Bella had an accident just yesterday?"

"How can I possibly forget that, Abby?" I asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Do you also remember that it was the same gun that shot the tire of their car?"

"Yes, so we also now know who shot at them. So, what's the problem?" I asked, getting irritated at the fact that Abby was just not telling me what the issue was.

"Yes, well we have some new information we did not know earlier. Dave was not trying to shoot at them. I'm not too sure if the shooting was related to our case at all."

"How can it not be related? He was a gun for hire. This was the gun that shot a Lance Corporal John Smith. This was also the gun that shot at Gibbs' tire. We were investigating the murder. Of course they have to be related." I almost yelled at her, my frustration mounting.

"Yeah well, we are not too sure if the shooting was to hamper the investigation."

"What do you mean, Abby?" Ziva asked.

"We found a photograph in his pocket. Of his intended victim." Abby said, shooting me a look.

I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach at that statement. From the way Abby was looking at me, I could guess who the intended victim was. I hope that my guess at whose photograph it was, was incorrect. But I did not think it was.

"Who's was it?" Tony asked, though he too seemed resigned for what the answer would be.

In reply, Abby just held up a photograph of a young girl, around 18 years old, brown hair, chocolate-brown eyes. My heart sank. I was looking at a yearbook photograph of a young Bella Swan.

(**A/N – I was so tempted to stop here, but the chapter would have been short for what I wanted to give you… so let's continue…)**

**STILL TIM POV**

"Bella?" Ziva asked, her eyebrows raised. "Why would someone hire him to target Bella? She has just shifted to the city, she barely knows anyone here! And even if it was someone who had followed her from her hometown, how would that person have the murder weapon used to kill our first victim?"

"Exactly what I am unable to understand!" Abby exclaimed. "Either that, or there is a connection between Bella and our Lance Corporal, which hasn't popped up at all so far. I don't think she knew him."

"No, nothing has popped up so far." I said, rubbing my hand over my face, suddenly tired. "How did this guy die Abby?"

"Well, Ducky is still doing the autopsy, but he feels the cause of death is exsanguination. "

"Yes, but caused by what?" Gibbs asked.

"He doesn't know yet. All he knows is that Dave suffered from massive blood loss. He has not found any bullet marks on him yet, or anything that could have caused such a huge amount of blood loss. But they're still looking. Also, the officers that found him, I confirmed with them, there wasn't any blood found in the vicinity of where the body was found." Abby responded.

"So maybe he was dumped there after he was killed somewhere else?" Tony suggested.

"Possibly." Gibbs said. He then looked at me. "Tim, get Bella into the conference room. We will need to ask her a few questions."

"Boss, you can't possibly believe she was involved?" I asked, shocked that Gibbs would even consider that.

"No Tim, I do not think she is involved. However, there has to be a reason why our possible murderer has her photograph in his pocket. Maybe she was his next intended victim. He did try to shoot at us in the car. So he had to have known we were on our way to Imelda's house to be able to lay there waiting for us. How did he come by this information? And who has then killed this guy? Will whoever hired him in the first place to kill Bella make another attempt on her life? It's not about suspecting her right now Tim, it's about having some answers so we know where to go from here." Gibbs replied.

I could understand his thinking, but that doesn't mean I had to like it. I nodded, and reluctantly turned to get Bella to take her to the conference room to talk with Gibbs.

"Wait!" Abby cried out. "Before we completely freak Bella out, shouldn't we have some more information? At least we need to know if Ducky has found something else. I am sure he is a man on a mission right now! He was the one who found the picture in his pocket, and would definitely be worried that the girl he looks at like his own daughter could be targeted. He might have something more for us to go on, if he had anything to say about it!"

"Yeah Boss, we should do that." Tony said eagerly.

I was thankful that they all seemed equally reluctant for Bella to be questioned. We had all grown to like her in the short time we knew her.

"Gibbs, wouldn't we be able to get more from Bella if Ducky was the one questioning her. No wait." Ziva said as Gibbs was about to interrupt, "I'm not saying you should not be there in the same room. You sit with them, just let Ducky ask her if and what she knows. She knows him since she was a kid."

Gibbs looked thoughtful. "That might not be a bad idea. First, let's go see if Ducky has found anything new. Then, let's go from there. Till then, no one mention anything to Bella."

We all nodded. "I mean it Abby and Tim. Both of you, nothing to be said to Bella at the moment."

"Yes, Boss." I said, while Abby muttered, "If I had it my way, she would not know about this at all."

"Alright then, let's go to autopsy, till then Tony, Ziva, see if you are able to dig up any connection between Bella and any of the parties involved. I would rather have that cleared off and not keep wondering."

"I'll process the photograph, see if I can pick up any prints off it." Abby said.

I suddenly remembered Bella's request to trace an e-mail for her. She had said she wasn't in any sort of trouble, but in light of what we have just learnt, I wondered if it was related. I kept a blank expression on my face, I would enlist Abby's help for this and check it out after Gibbs left.

Just then, the elevator doors opened and Bella exited, holding a giant Caf-Pow in her hand. "Here you go, Abby." she said, handing it to her with a tentative smile. She looked at all of us nervously. "Is something wrong? Did you guys find something?"

"Well, all we found was that this man was probably the one who shot at the car. We are not sure if he also shot our lance corporal, as we haven't found anything linking them yet. But there are just his fingerprints on the gun, and that gun was definitely our murder weapon. So we are just waiting for a connection to link the two." Abby said, carefully leaving out anything about Bella herself.

"But then, who killed this guy?" Bella asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, that's the golden question. Hopefully Ducky would have found something for us." Gibbs said, taking Bella by the elbow. "Guys, get to work. Bella, let's go see what Ducky has for us."

I watched him leading her away towards the elevator. Bella looked worried. I tried to smile at her reassuringly, but it seemed to come out more as a grimace.

I was really worried about what we would find.

**A/N - So how was it? Worth the wait? What do you think is going on here? How did this Dave guy end up with Bella's photograph? Was the e-mail Bella had gotten related to all of this?**

**Please review, the reviews are decreasing with every chapter :(**

**Loves,**

**A.**


	24. sorry guys!

Hey y'all! I know I have been missing for almost two months.. I'm sorry, but I had dislocated my right thumb.. So, my hand has been in a splint for the past 6 weeks. Still have rehab to go, but just wanted to let u guys know why I have been MIA.

I will do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.


	25. Chapter 22

**DUCKY POV**

What in the world has my little Bella gotten herself into? I do not know how to even react. Since the first time I met her, saw her big, chocolate brown eyes, I have loved this little girl with all my heart, like she was my own. And now my innocent girl has a murderer on her back. I need to know what is going on. And the best way to do that is to ask not Bella herself, but someone who will be as invested in her safety as I am.

I picked up my phone and called the number of my very old friend. He, as was expected from him, did not pick up, so I had to call his place of work.

"Forks Police Station. How may I help you?" The voice of a female operator came on the line.

"Yes, may I speak with Chief Swan, please?" I asked, clearing my throat slightly.

"May I know who is on the line and what is it regarding?"

"Please tell him it is Dr. Mallard on the line. He will know who I am." I replied.

"Very well, Sir. Kindly hold the line while I transfer your call." Soon, the "on-hold" jingle started playing on the line.

"Ducky! I have been expecting your call." The gruff voice of Chief Swan came on the line.

"How are you doing, old friend? It has been too long since we met." I was reluctant to get to the unpleasant part of the conversation.

"Yes, it has been quite a while, hasn't it? I last met you before my Bella came to stay with me." You could hear the love in Charlie's voice as he spoke of 'his' Bella.

"Speaking of Bella, I got a wonderful surprise a couple of days ago! Couldn't you let me know Charlie? I could have helped her settle down. She could have stayed with me in fact. It would do me good too. You know how lonely I get since mother passed away."

"You know kids these days. They want to make it on their own. Bella was always an independent girl. She did not want any help."

"Yes, well. It was great to see her nevertheless. There is something I wanted to ask you Charlie. I don't want you to worry in any way."

"That itself worries me Ducky. What's wrong? Did something happen? I knew I should not have sent her alo..." Charlie started rambling.

"No, no Charlie." I cut him off. "Nothing of that sort. Bella is fine. She is safe. Settling down nicely here. The team takes care of each other, Charlie. They won't let anything happen to her."

"Then why say you don't want to worry me? That definitely does mean it is something I will worry about."

"Ah well, I wanted to ask you if Bella was in any kind of trouble before she came here? Recently? Or even as far back as high school?"

"Trouble? What kind of trouble? Just be straight with me, Ducky. What is going on?"

"I don't know how to tell you this Charlie. I don't want you worrying unnecessarily. I'll just come out and say it. We found Bella's photograph in the pocket of one of our murder victims. Said murder victim is also the chief suspect in the murder case Gibbs' team is currently investigating; of which Bella is a team member." I rushed through the details, wanting to get them out.

"What? How did her photograph land up there? What kind of trouble has she landed herself in now? This girl will be the death of me. I swear to God, ever since she has moved to Forks in her junior year Ducky, it has been one incident after another. Always involving those damn Cullens! Luckily those incidents stopped after they left. Now I wonder what she has done!" Charlie exclaimed in frustration.

"The Cullens? You think they are connected to this somehow?" I asked with trepidation.

"Yes, I felt they were directly or indirectly responsible for whatever happened while they were here. Including putting my baby girl in a depression by leaving her in the goddamn woods!" I had never seen Charlie so vocal before. "But Ducky, how could they possibly be responsible for what's happening now."

I kept silent, knowing I did not really need to answer his question. His groan in response showed that he understood what my silence meant.

"Don't tell me that girl has gone and gotten herself mixed up with them again. As soon as she leaves this place she runs to them. I should have been expecting it, but I believed her when she said that she did not have any means to contact them, nor knew where they were."

"Now, now, Charlie. I don't think Isabella was lying to you when she told you that. She was probably as surprised as you would have been in her place. She met them at the hospital after her accident. Apparently, young Edward and his father were the first at the scene of the accident and were able to help expedite the removal of Isabella from where she was trapped inside the car." I told him hurriedly.

There was silence down the line for a moment, before Charlie erupted. "Accident? What accident? I didn't get any news of an accident that Bella was in. Ducky, I trusted you to look out for her! That also includes calling me if something like this happens."

Oh dear.

Luckily, at that moment, the elevator doors pinged and Gibbs and Bella came into the room. "Charlie, I've got to go. Work calls, unfortunately. Don't worry, Bella is fine. Just a mild concussion, that's all. She was discharged from the hospital as soon as she gained consciousness." Somehow I knew as these words came from my mouth, that Charlie was probably not finding them all that reassuring.

"You're talking to Dad?" Bella had a look of horror on her face, I'm sure she was imagining the yelling she would be expecting from her father the next time she spoke to him.

"Ducky hand her the phone right this instant. I'm not going to let her avoid my calls for the next few days." Charlie ordered me, knowing exactly what was running through his daughter's mind once she realized I was talking to him.

I handed her the phone with an apologetic smile. "Charlie wants to speak with you, Bella."

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before reaching out to take the phone from my hand. "Hey, Dad!" she said, keeping a buoyant tone in her voice, though you could clearly see the anxiousness on her face.

There was a long pause, in which I'm assuming Charlie was busy reaming Bella out. "No, dad. Listen... Dad... I didn't... No I did not know they were here. I was shocked to see Edward at the hospital... No, I am not getting back together with him, Dad... Yes, I'm sure... No, I'm sorry I did not inform you, it was just a minor thing... Yes, they are all here. I met Emmett and Jasper... No not yet. I will be going over once the case is over... Don't worry, Dad!..." Suddenly, there was a confused expression on her face. "Wait, what? I don't know what you are talking about. What photograph?" I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Gibbs' angry expression for forgetting to tell Charlie not to mention the photograph to Bella. "I have no clue about any photograph. I will talk to Ducky and call you later Dad... I promise... I love you too, Dad... Bye." Bella put the phone away and looked at me and Gibbs before asking us "What is my Dad talking about? What photograph was found?"

Gibbs sighed and moved to sit, gesturing to me and Bella to do the same. He looked at Bella and said gently, "We did not tell you this earlier as we did not want to worry you. While Ducky was going through the belongings of Dave Jones, the second murder victim, he found a photograph in the victim's pocket. It was your photograph, Bella. Or a younger you anyway. We were wondering if you knew this man in any way."

"I do not know anyone named Dave Jones" Bella said, still looking confused. "Why would he have my photograph?"

"That's what we want to know, Bella." I said, slanting the photograph I had taken of Dave across the table to her.

"Is this the guy?" she asked me, picking up the photograph to have a good look at it.

"Yes, this is the Dave. Maybe you know him by a different name?" Gibbs asked.

Bella shook her head, frowning. "No, I've never seen him before." Suddenly, she looked up at us her eyes widening. "Wait, do you think I had something to do with his murder?"

**BPOV**

I was shocked, a million thought running through my head at the same time. Trying to remember if I had ever seen this man before, why he would have my photograph in his pocket. So this is why they were all behaving so weird in Abby's lab. They all must have discussed this when I went to get the Caf-Pow. And here I was worrying about Gibbs finding out about the kiss Tim and I shared. Tim. My heart sank thinking of the expression on his face as Gibbs led me away toward Ducky's autopsy. He looked upset. And angry. I wouldn't be surprised at either emotion. I mean, if they all felt I was involved in this, it is the least that can be expected from them. I guess now there won't be anything left for Gibbs to find out. I won't be keeping this job for much longer, that's for sure. I was already a suspect in a murder. And I'm sure Tim would want nothing to do...

I was awaken from my reverie by someone shaking my shoulder, trying to get my attention. I blinked, looking up to see Ducky looking at me concernedly, whilst Gibbs looked on with a blank face.

"Isabella, are you alright?" Ducky asked me gently.

"Yes, I'm fine." I said, sitting up straighter. I knew I had not done anything wrong. I would not go to jail if I was not guilty.

"Bella let me be very straight with you. I do not like bullshit. I am not the kind to beat around the bush. So I am telling you this straight up. We know you are not responsible for this murder. So don't think we are asking you these questions because we are trying to get you to admit your guilt. First of all, you were with Abby the night he was murdered. Secondly, he was a hit man who was known to accept marks for money. Now, considering we found your photo in his pocket, we are assuming that you were supposed to be his next victim, and not the other way around. His fingerprints were found on the gun that killed our Lance Corporal. The same gunshot the bullet that was lodged in our tire when we had the accident. Now, I am assuming that he was killed because he was unsuccessful in his bid to get rid of you. What we want to know is, do you know who might be out to murder you? Have you made any serious enemies in the past?" Gibbs said.

For a few seconds, all I could think about was that they knew I was innocent. They did not consider me a murder suspect. My shoulders sagged with relief. Then I started thinking about the questions that he had just posed to me.

"No." I said, shaking my head. "I cannot think of anyone who would want to murder me."

"Are you sure about that, Isabella?" Ducky asked me.

"Yes. I have not made any enemies. This is my first big case here. Earlier, they were all minor offences. Nothing too serious." I said. "How did he die?" I asked Ducky.

"He died of exsanguination. All the blood was drained from his body."

Hearing that, I grew pale, whispering a name that still gave me nightmares. "Victoria!"

**A/N: - I know what you all must be thinking, FINALLY! I cannot apologize enough for the delay in posting this chapter. That said, I can also say I have no other chapters ready so the next update would also be a while. I will do my best to get it up for you all as soon as I can..**

**Thanks for sticking by me all this while! Your reviews do mean a lot to me! I will be getting to the reviews in some time. I will reply to all of you I promise!**

**Please let me know what you think about this chapter!**


	26. Chapter 23

**_A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed or pm'd me with ideas. I'm trying my best to incorporate as many of your ideas as I can into the story line... _**

**__****_I would like to especially thank XxJasper'sAngelxX for all her help with this chapter, with me bouncing crazy ideas off her, and her patience dealing with me and also for Beta'ing this chapter for me... Muah! Love you girl!_**

**_Disclaimer: - I do not own Twilight or NCIS or anything associated with either of these two. I just write for fun. :)_**

**_A quick recap of the previous chapter -_**

_"No," I said, shaking my head, "I cannot think of anyone who would want to murder me."_

_"Are you sure about that Isabella?" Ducky asked me._

_"Yes. I have not made any enemies. This is my first big case here. Earlier they were all minor offences. Nothing too serious." I said. "How did he die?" I asked Ducky._

_"He died of exsanguination. All the blood was drained from his body." _

_Hearing that I grew pale, whispering a name that still gave me nightmares. "Victoria!" _

**NOW**

**BPOV**

My mind was racing. I could not believe that even now, after all this time, she was still after me. She had created a few problems after the Cullens had left, but after the pack had culled her new-born army, she had disappeared. Unfortunately she was not there on the day of the battle, but I had thought she might have given up since there was no threat since then. I should have known that she was just biding her time, waiting for me to leave the safety net the pack provided. As soon as she saw I was away from their help, she decided to make her move.

I was shaken from my reverie when Gibbs asked me who Victoria was. _'Damn it, I shouldn't have said her name out loud. Now, they aren't going to let it go. What am I going to tell them?'_ I thought, biting my lower lip worriedly.

"Isabella, who is Victoria?" Ducky repeated Gibbs' question.

"No... Nobody. Look, I don't even know why she cropped up in my mind. She can't possibly have anything to do with this case. I haven't seen her for years." I tried putting it off.

Gibbs and Ducky exchanged a look. I held my breath hoping they would believe me. I did not keep my hopes up too high though, I mean even I would not believe me!

"Bella, now is not the time to be keeping secrets. Either you tell us what is up, or we will have no choice but to find out ourselves." Gibbs said impatiently.

I looked at him through my lashes, wondering what I could possibly tell him that he would believe. I sighed, deciding to not say anything. I was going to lose my job either way, I had to get away. If it was Victoria I could not possibly put anyone in the team in danger. I would not have anyone else hurt in my stead. At least by not saying anything, I would not get locked up in a loony bin.

"There is nothing I have to tell you, Agent Gibbs." I said, straightening up and looking him in the eyes. He looked at me, searching my eyes for a minute, before flicking his eyes over to Ducky.

He sighed and held out his hand to me. "Badge and gun, Agent Swan." He said, looking anywhere but at me.

I swallowed slowly, determined to not cry in front of anyone. Ducky looked devastated at the turn of events. I took my gun out of its holster and removed my badge from my pocket, stretching my hand to hand them over to Gibbs.

My wrist brushed against the back of Gibbs' hand as I turned to walk out. I had decided to leave directly. I didn't think I was up to facing anyone at the moment. I could just about imagine the look on their faces. It had been just a few days, but the entire team had come to mean a lot to me. As it is disappointing Gibbs and Ducky felt bad enough. I decided to go to my apartment, which I had gotten just yesterday. I'm sure Alice had seen what had happened. If they wanted to help, they could come to talk to me there, as I had no way of contacting them. Even if I did, I was unwilling to ask them for help. My insecurities towards them had not completely abated yet.

I walked towards the elevator and had just entered when Gibbs came rushing behind me and entered alongside me. I was surprised, but still unwilling to face him. The elevator started moving towards the main floor when Gibbs reached out and pressed the emergency stop button, causing the elevator to jerk to a halt. I looked at him then, shocked at his actions. Why would he stop the elevator this way?

"So Bella... I was disappointed when you were unwilling to confide in us. When you were leaving however, I realized something and it changed my opinion of you drastically. You were willing to leave the N.C.I.S. disgraced, but were unwilling to put anyone in danger. I respect that Bella." He said without looking at me.

"Boss?" I asked confused. "I do not understand."

Gibbs turned to me then, gently lifting my right hand closer to his line of vision and running his hand gently over the bite mark I had there. A perfect imprint of James' dentition.

I gasped, looking at him searchingly, my eyes flicking between Gibbs' face and the hand with which he still held on my wrist.

"Tell me Bella, which vampire could bite you and leave you without completely draining you of your blood or turning you into a vampire too?" Gibbs asked, dropping my hand and raising an eyebrow at me questioningly.

I just continued looking at him, my brain still processing that somehow Gibbs knew about vampires!

He sighed impatiently. "Yes Bella, I know about vampires, now snap out of it. I need to know what's going on."

"But... you... how?" I stammered. Gibbs gave me a glare and I shook away the disorientation.

"I found out about vampires when I was 17, when I moved to Forks. I was dating one of them."

"You dated a vampire?" Gibbs looked shocked. It made me giggle mentally, no matter how wrong a situation this was to find funny. "Was your boyfriend the one who did this to you?"

"No. He actually saved me. There was a sadistic vampire called James who saw me one day with my boyfriend's family and well, he saw how the whole family was a little protective of me. This ticked off his malicious side and he decided it would be a fun game to try to hunt me against all these vampires protecting me." I told Gibbs, being careful not to mention any of the Cullens' names. I did not know how he knew about vampires, but if he had not made the connection yet after meeting Edward at the hospital I was not going to betray their secret.

"And how does this Victoria fit into all this?" Gibbs asked me.

"She was James' mate. Long story short, James tried to draw me out by making me believe he had my mother and would kill her unless I came to him alone. I gave the family a slip and went to meet him, only to realize he did not have my mother after all and James had just played our old home movies in the background when I thought he put her on the line. He tried to kill me, ended up biting me before the family showed up. Ed... My boyfriend sucked the venom out from the bite while the rest of his family killed James. Since then Victoria has been out for revenge. She wants a mate for a mate, believing that since my boyfriend killed her mate, she should kill his. Only she doesn't seem to realize that we are actually not mates and have not been together since a few months after this incident." I finished.

"Ed... huh... I should have been paying more attention at the hospital, though it never struck me that I needed to. The Cullens are the vampire family you knew?" He asked. _Damn, he caught my slip._

"Um, yeah... But as I hadn't seen them for years before then, I don't think they know anything about this."

"Hmmm... Do any of them have any special powers?" Well he just kept on throwing me for a loop. He clearly had quite a bit of knowledge about vampires.

"Yes, Edward can read minds, Alice can see the future, but only based on decisions people make and Jasper can feel and manipulate people's emotions. And of-course Edward and Carlisle have excellent control of their thirst."

"Hmm..." Gibbs seemed deep in thought. I waited silently for some time before interrupting him.

"Boss... If you don't mind me asking, how did you know?" I asked him hesitantly.

"I didn't, not until you turned to leave. Your wrist brushed against my hand and I felt how cold the skin was there. I have shaken your hand earlier, so I know that was not your normal temperature. I followed you to the elevator to confirm my suspicions and I was sure once I saw the bite mark on your wrist. As for vampires, I have known for quite a few years. There was once a vampire I knew. Her name was Penelope. She was a suspect of mine in a case actually, during my first year after joining N.C.I.S. She ended up saving my life; taking a bullet that was headed for my head. It didn't harm her in any way though and a world I never knew existed was revealed to me that day." He looked at me then. "So if this Victoria female is after you, we will need to call in reinforcements as I'm sure none of us are capable of doing anything to kill her. I will call Penny as soon as I am done here. Do you think the Cullens would help? They should, considering that they are part of the original mess."

"Yes, once I tell them I'm sure they will be more than willing to help." I said, well I hoped. "Boss, do you think she was responsible for the original murder too?" I asked him.

"No, I don't. She doesn't seem to be the kind who would try to disguise her kills as human violence by shooting the victim. There has to be something else going on here. We just have to figure out what." Gibbs replied.

He re-started the elevator and we started moving towards the main floor. "Bella, I do not need to emphasize the need-to-know with this case. I have informed the entire team about the presence of vampires, including Ducky and he too suspected a vampire, but we did not mention it to you as we were unsure if you knew anything about vampires, or even if they were involved in the first place. I told the team so they know not to attempt to take on a vampire if they encounter one. Why risk lives if we can use caution? I will tell the rest of the team what you have told me, so you don't need to worry about repeating the story, but let's just keep this to us. No one else needs to be told about this."

I looked at him gratefully. Once was enough. I was not looking forward to repeating the story one bit.

As the doors opened, Gibbs continued, "I do not think you should be alone in the meanwhile. Call up the Cullens and enlist their help and I want you to stay with them if possible. If not then you will be staying with me till the case is done."

"You don't need to worry about that, Agent Gibbs. We would never say no to Bella." I heard a melodious voice say.

A big smile crossed my face as I looked up and ran to hug her.

"Alice!"

**_A/N: - So, was it up to your expectations? Let me know what you all think about this chapter.. About the team already knowing about vampires.. What do you guys think about the OC Penelope, who I'm going to introduce to you'll within the next couple of chapters?_**

**_Please do review and let me know :)_**


	27. Chapter 24

**A/N:**** Hey guys, I know! Back so soon? I'm as shocked as you guys are... Lol... I will try my best to get at least one chapter a week out to you guys.**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed, and to all of those who PM'd me, as they were unable to review for some reason. Your amazing reviews mean the world to me. 3**

**Also, if you guys are on Tricky Raven, I finally took my chance at a weekly drabble there. I write under the same pen-name, so if you want, go check it out... A warning: It's not like anything I've written here.**

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

"Alice? What are you doing here?" I asked her, thinking it over though; I guess it was a silly question to ask.

"Oh Bella! I've missed you so much," Alice said bouncing on her toes. She looked like she was trying her best to stop herself from rushing over to knock me down with a hug.

I suddenly remembered where I was. "Oh, by the way Boss, this is Mary Alice Cullen. Alice, meet Special Agent Gibbs. Behind you are Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and Agents Timothy McGee and Ziva David. And that over there is Abby Sciuto. She is our whiz for everything you can think off in relation to computers." I said, indicating towards each of them as I introduced them to each other.

"It's so great to meet you all. I'm looking forward to working with all of you," Alice said with her normal levels of enthusiasm.

"It is good to meet you too, Alice. Call me Tony. It is alright with you if I call you Alice, right?" Tony moved forward with his hand outstretched and a silly grin on his face.

Gibbs smacked his hand away just as Ziva asked with a suspicious look on her face, "Work together? Why would we work together?"

"Alice!" I hissed out. The others did not know the full story and since Gibbs had volunteered to fill them in, I was in no hurry to start explanations.

"I will explain everything to you in time, in the meantime Ms. Cullen, will it be alright if Bella stays with you till the case is closed?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course Bella can stay with us for as long as she wants. She is always welcome at our home," Alice answered affirmatively.

"What? Why? Is Bella in danger? If she is, Boss, don't you think it will be better if she stays with one of us? We would be able to protect her better, "Tim protested, not looking too happy with the idea of me living with the Cullens for any period of time.

"Like I said McGee I will explain everything to all of you in a couple of minutes," Gibbs turned to me and said. "Go on then, I will expect you here at work tomorrow on time. No delays. Catch them up to the case so far if needed, or whatever parts they may not already know. I will be dismissing everyone for the night once I'm done briefing the team."

"Yes, Boss," I smiled at him before wishing everyone a good night and picking up my bag to leave for the night.

"Bella?" I turned around to see Gibbs looking at me seriously. "I think you're forgetting something..."

I looked at him quizzically, unsure as to what he was talking about. Gibbs held out my badge and gun towards me.

"Oh thank you Boss. I wasn't sure if you were going to give this to me right now or whether the termination still held, " I remarked, looking at my badge and gun reverently.

"Termination?" This was heard from four different sources, all those currently in the room who did not know about the recent revelations.

"I better start filling them in before they bite off our heads." Gibbs said to me, before asking the rest of the team to accompany him to Abby's lab.

"Goodnight everyone." I said as Alice and I started making our way to the elevator.

As soon as the doors shut Alice turned to me with a very high pitched squeal, before I was crushed in a tight hug by the little pixie.

"Alice…." I gasped out unable to breathe. "Still human here!"

Alice let go of me looking slightly sheepish, but only for a second. Then once again the smile was back on her face. "Oh, I missed you so much, Bella. I have barely been speaking to my brother all these years because he forced all of us to leave you." She turned to look at me with widened eyes. "You understand, don't you Bella? I did not want to leave you. Emmett and I fought to be able to stay with you, but we were outvoted by the rest of the family and Jasper was besides himself at the time. He could not believe that he tried to take a bite out of you. I had to make sure he was alright and by the time I came back my protests were too late to have any effect. I wish I had stayed back instead of going after Jasper. Maybe then…" Alice started rambling on and on until I stopped her by putting my hand over her mouth.

"Alice, it's alright. I understand. Jasper is your mate. He will and he should always come first. I was in a bad state after you left, but I got better with time. As for Jasper, he should not have blamed himself, he was not at fault, being an empath and feeling everyone's bloodlust, including Edward's and with me being Edward's singer, I'm sure that if Jasper meant to give into the bloodlust, none of you would have been able to stop him. "I said to her just as the elevator doors opened and we started walking out. "By the way, how were you able to come in? Emmett and Jasper were unable to enter earlier."

"Oh that, well that is why I actually had not come down to meet you prior to this. I had a lot of preparations to make, including having a pass ready for me to show the guards and Esme and I had to get the house ready for you!"

I groaned at that. "I hope you guys haven't spent a lot of money, Alice. This is just a temporary arrangement till this case is over and we get rid of Victoria."

"There is no 'we' getting rid of Victoria, Bella. You are doing nothing, alright? I don't want you trying to act smart and save everyone the trouble and getting yourself killed. There are people who are able to handle this and you should leave it to them. I'm pretty sure as a family of eight, we can take out one measly vampire," Alice said strictly.

"Family of eight?" I asked her, confused. Had someone new joined the Cullens?

"Well, the seven of us and the new vampire Penny is going to be here by tomorrow, if Gibbs does call her tonight as he has planned. So together we are eight." Alice said brightly.

"Uh huh," I said suspiciously, not entirely convinced by her argument.

We had reached her car by then and got in, getting ready to drive to the Cullens' place. We made small talk the entire way there. When we were almost there I got a call from Ducky.

"_Hello_," I answered the phone.

"_Isabella, my dear, this is Ducky_."

"_Yes Ducky, I have your number stored_," I replied.

"_Oh yes, I keep forgetting that in this day and age it is very easy to know who is on the other end of a call. In my day we had to identify ourselves first or else the person we were calling might not have recognized us_."

I smiled at his reminiscing, so typical of Ducky.

"_Well, that is not what I called to discuss. Oh Bella, what have you gotten yourself mixed in my dear? Vampires? And you dated one too? I must say I did not notice the scar on your wrist, or we would have had this conversation much sooner._" Ducky continued.

"_Ducky, I.._." I started, unsure of what to say to that.

"_Never mind my dear; I understand why it's a difficult topic to talk about with someone. Most people would deem us crazy. I just wanted to say that if you wanted someone to talk to regarding all this; I'm always here for you. I have looked at you as my daughter your whole life and since Charlie does not know..._"

I interrupted him at that point. "_Actually Ducky, Charlie does know_."

"_What?_" Ducky seemed shocked. Even Alice looked at me in horror, assuming I had betrayed their confidence. I shook my head to indicate to her that I had not told him anything.

"_Isabella, you told Charlie about the existence of vampires?_" Ducky seemed incredulous.

"_No Ducky, I didn't tell him anything. You know Charlie got married to Sue a couple of years earlier? And I have two step-siblings Leah and Seth?" _Ducky hummed in agreement_. "Well, Leah and Seth are shape-shifters. They shift into the form of wolves. One day when Seth was coming back from patrol he didn't realize that Charlie was enjoying his coffee on the porch and Charlie saw him shift back from his wolf form. So they decided to tell Charlie everything. That was when I got grounded for a year, when Charlie realized I had been dating a vampire inspite of knowing he was a vampire._" I finished as Alice pulled into the driveway.

"_Oh well, I can imagine Charlie blowing his gasket at something like that._" Ducky chuckled.

"_Yes, he did, but Ducky, I just want to tell you that I appreciate the offer. I can't very well tell Charlie that I have a sadistic vampire hell-bent on killing me. He would make sure he was on the next flight out to drag me home_." I said, grateful at his gesture.

"_That's no problem my dear. You can call me anytime you want._"

"_Thanks, Ducky._" I ended the call and looked up at the house and all the air seemed to leave my lungs at the beauty of the house.

It had a brown theme this time, unlike the white they had in Forks. Though this one too was made with huge glass windows through which you could see into the house. The roof was sloping. One part of the house was made entirely from bricks. Through the glass there was a warm rosy glow from the lights, seeming to invite you inside. I was awestruck at the beauty and the size of the house.

"Yeah, I know the house is huge. Esme went all out this time, trying to raise everyone's spirits. Plus this way we all get a little more privacy for our 'private time.'" She said, waggling her eyebrows at me, reminding me of Emmett.

"Bella!" I heard before I was encased in a pair of cool arms. I relaxed into the hug, as this hug always made me feel like I had come home. I pulled back to see Esme beaming at me and I could not help but get a little teary eyed.

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry. My child, you know I love you so much, now that I have you back I am never going to give you up again."

I sniffled and then laughed, "I know I'm being silly, I don't even know why I'm crying."

"Hush, you are not being silly. Come let's go in, I have dinner ready for you. Is Chinese okay?" Esme asked me, pulling me towards the house. Alice had already gone ahead.

"Chinese is perfect," I said drying my eyes. Upon entering I saw all the Cullens waiting around to greet me.

I rushed to hug Carlisle first, having missed his love and compassion as much as I had missed Esme's hugs and coddling.

"Bella, it is so good to see you," Carlisle said, looking at me warmly.

"Hello Carlisle. I feel the same way. I'm sorry I could not meet you at the hospital. Gibbs was in a bit of a hurry to continue the investigation," I said, suddenly wishing I had taken the time to at least greet the patriarch of the family.

"Don't worry about that my dear. Work comes first, I understand," He smiled his gentle fatherly smile at me, making me realized how much I had missed him.

"Hello, Bella," Rosalie said smiling at me.

"Hi, Rosalie," There was an awkwardness, as neither of us knew what to say to each other.

The awkwardness was broken when Emmett came rushing to hug me tightly and when he let me go Jasper came up and hugged me gently before kissing me on the forehead and saying, "I know you have told Alice you don't blame me for what happened, but I would still like to apologize as that was the catalyst for us leaving," he said looking at me ashamed.

"I have already told Alice and I now am telling you, there is no blame on anyone here, but if it will make you feel better, I forgive you Jasper," I said smiling at him.

"Yes and now everyone is going to get their happily-ever-after," Alice squealed happily.

"What are you on about Alice?" I asked her, but she just smiled at me in that knowing way of hers.

I looked at Edward, but he was shaking his head fondly at Alice, "I don't know Bella. Alice is blocking me from seeing whatever she has seen."

"Don't worry, everyone will find out when they need to know," Alice said before seating herself on the couch and indicating to everyone else to do the same. "Now, what do we do about Victoria?"

**Please review..**


	28. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. This chapter is not Beta'd, so please excuse any errors. If it is something major, do PM me about it!**

**I am grateful to all those who reviewed. Your reviews mean a lot to me, as it helps me decide where I will be taking this story if you tell me what you like or even what you don't.**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**CHAPTER 25**

**TIM POV**

I watched as Bella and Alice walked to the elevator, and kept looking till they got in. I sighed, turning around to follow the rest of the team to Abby's lab for whatever revelation Gibbs had for us. I was surprised to see Edward's sister in the team room, and even more surprised to learn that they were going to help us with the case. Alice looked so young, and so small. Edward and his father were doctors, I wondered how they could possibly help us with the investigation. I pondered over what Bella could have told Gibbs when he, along with Ducky had questioned her, but I did not have any logical theories coming up in my head. Though I had my suspicions about the true nature of the Cullens, I did not want to voice them out loud, for I feared looking foolish, and it would be highly unusual that if they were what I suspected they were, then two of them would be practicing medicine.

We reached Abby's lab to hear the usual loud music reverberating off the walls. Gibbs went and shut it off, surprising Abby, who turned around with an indignant look on her face, only to stop short on seeing our expressions.

"What happened?" Abby asked, looking at all of us. When we all shrugged and looked at Gibbs, she turned to him, "Gibbs? What did Bella say?"

"Yeah, Boss, what did Bella say? What could have possibly been that bad that you had confiscated her batch and gun, and she thought she was being terminated? This is so unlike you Boss. I thought teams stuck together…" I started ranting, getting riled up as the words kept spewing from my mouth.

Gibbs held up his hand to silence us and just said, "Hold on, I will explain everything to all of you, I am just waiting for Ducky to get here."

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened, and Ducky walked out, looking quite sad. "Jethro, what's this meeting about?" He asked.

"Let's all just gather around. There is a lot I have to tell you, and I would appreciate it if none of you interrupt till I am done." Gibbs said.

We all silently took stools and gathered in Abby's small office that was alongside her lab, looking eagerly at Gibbs to start unravelling the mystery of the past couple of hours. My nerves were stretched tight, I was worried about Bella being the target of a hit-man, I was worried about what Bella could possibly be hiding, and at the back of my mind, I was also worried about Bella spending the night at her ex's place. I did trust her when she said they did not have any feelings for each other anymore, but come on, who wouldn't be worried when the ex looked like a supermodel! I sighed, and shook my head to clear these thoughts, and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand.

"I took Bella to autopsy and showed her Dave's body, to see if she recognized him in any way. While she didn't, as soon as we told her the cause of death, she paled and whispered a name, Victoria. When we questioned her further, she refused to tell us anything else. I had no choice but to ask her to hand in her batch and gun."

He held up a hand to stop our flurry of protests. "I had no choice, you know that. If she doesn't tell me, I cannot help her." Gibbs said sternly.

He continued when we remained silent, "As Bella turned to leave, her wrist brushed my hand and I realized what Bella was trying to hide, I realized what she thought she was protecting us from. The skin on her wrist was as cold as ice."

There was a two second silence in which I realized with a sinking heart that my assumptions had not been so far off. "Vampires" I breathed out, my eyes widening with horror.

"Yes, vampires. While the entire story is not mine to tell, the Cullen family are vampires whom Bella met in high school. While she was with them, there was a sadistic vampire James who happened to be passing by, and Bella caught his fancy, being well protected and a difficult target. After a chase from Forks to Phoenix, the Cullens managed to get rid of him, however his mate Victoria had vanished. Now she is after Bella, assuming that since Edward killed her mate, she should kill his. Either she does not know that they are not together, nor have they been for years, or she is too deranged to care anymore."

I was stunned. No wonder Gibbs felt that she needed protection. Vampires I could not fight against. I guess Cullen would be better for her right now, I thought sadly. The thought of Bella even remotely being Edward's mate did not make me feel better either.

"I have called Penny. She will be here tomorrow. We will be coordinating with the Cullens. Till Victoria is found, Bella will be under the Cullens' protection," Gibbs continued. "Ducky, Abbs, I want both of you to go over all the evidence again, see if you can find something new keeping the recent developments in mind."

"I can do that Gibbs, but if there was something I could have found, I would have found it already," Abby declared.

"Alright, lets call it a day. Go home, regroup. I want all of you here bright and early tomorrow morning," Gibbs told us, making a move to leave. Ducky too got up, looking slightly shaken at the revelations, not that I could blame him.

The four of us waited silently till they left. I heaved a sigh of exhaustion. I was exhausted, maybe not physically, but definitely mentally.

"So Tim, your girlfriend dated a vampire," Tony started teasing.

I just held up my hand. "Tony please, not now. I am just not in the mood." Saying that, I got up and left, hearing Abby and Ziva chiding Tony about his thoughtless comments.

I had a lot to think about. I shuddered to think about what all Bella had gone through. Being chased by a sadistic vampire to being bitten by him. She was lucky to be alive! One thing was for sure, as soon as the case was done, Bella and I would have a long talk. We really needed to get to know each other.

**BPOV (NEXT MORNING)**

On my way to headquarters the next morning, I thought back to the previous night that I spent at the Cullens'. It seemed like nothing had changed. Well, truthfully none of them had changed, only I had. It was a little strange to see them looking and behaving the same way as they had all those years ago. I felt closer in age to Esme and Carlisle than I did to any of the younger Cullens. It was disconcerting for a while, but then as time passed, the weirdness seemed to slowly abate. In the end, we were all laughing at Emmett's antics over the years, which the rest of the family seemed to take joy in recounting to me.

Edward interrupted my musings with a small snort, "You think after all these years it would stop driving me crazy that I am unable to read your mind," he said.

I smiled at him and said, "Nothing much, just thinking about how good it was to spend time with all of you again."

Edward frowned and said, "I cannot apologize enough for w…"

I interrupted him before he could complete the sentence, "Edward, let's just forget that happened. Let it go. Keeping on thinking about it isn't going to change anything."

He made a sound of agreement and continued driving. Why was Edward with me? Well, the Cullens were accompanying me to headquarters, where we were all going to sit and discuss the strategy to solve this case officially, and manage to catch Victoria too. I was in Edward's car, while all the others were in their respective cars, one for each couple.

We pulled in much earlier than I anticipated, with all the other Cullen cars pulling in within seconds of each other. Alice had visitor passes ready for everyone already, so after the security check, we all went to the conference room, where we were supposed to meet the others. When we got there, Gibbs was the only one from our team already present, and he had a beautiful brunette vegetarian vampire with him, who I assumed was Penny.

"Have a good night?" Gibbs asked me, sipping his coffee.

"Yes, I did, thanks. What about you?" I replied, taking a chair and shooting a smile at Penny, while the rest of the Cullens also started taking seats.

"Mine was fine. This is Penny. I have caught her up to what I know so far. Any details that have been left out, I request any one of you to please tell her." The second sentence was directed at the Cullens. I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to introduce Gibbs to them. The only one he knew was Alice. Before I could however, the rest of the team walked in, Tony, Tim and Ziva, all of them smiling and greeting those of us already present in the room, though the smile Tim gave me was a little tentative, before he shot a look at Edward who was sitting next to me. Edward just paid him no mind, instead observing Penny, who in turn seemed to be observing him.

I decided since everyone was here this would be the best time to get introductions out of the way. I stood up and cleared my throat, waiting till the three who had just entered had settled into their seats before commencing.

"Everyone, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Next to him is his wife Esme, adjacent to her are Rosalie and Emmett. Across from Emmett is Jasper and his wife Alice. And this is Edward," I said pointing to each in turn. I then introduced the team to the Cullens. "Um, this is Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Senior Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Special Agent Timothy McGee and Special Agent Ziva David." Introductions done, I sat down, waiting for Gibbs to start the discussion.

"Okay, so I as was saying, I have caught everyone up to what I know so far. Abby and Ducky have gone over their findings again, but they don't believe they have missed anything. I happen to believe that, as I am sure if Victoria knows you are working with N.C.I.S., she is bound to not leave evidence that could be easily found by humans. What I want to know is how is she related to our original murder victim? Is there any connection there at all? Also, if she did want to kill Bella, why did she hire a hitman to do so? Why did she not do it herself? It would have been easier for her." Gibbs addressed all of us.

"I agree with you, Agent Gibbs. Also, Victoria is very sadistic. If indeed Dave had been hired to kill Bella, it would not have satisfied Victoria's thirst for revenge in any way. Asking a puny human, no offense meant to any of you, but asking a hitman to kill the woman responsible for her mate's death might be considered expected in the human world, but for a vampire, that makes no sense at all, " Jasper drawled out.

"I agree with Jasper, Jethro. There is something we are missing here." Penny said.

"Maybe she believed we would be watching over Bella. Its plausible. Because I had been watching over Bella's safety, and I would have seen it if Victoria had chosen to act directly," Alice chimed in.

"That is possible. You can see the future, right?" Tim asked Alice.

"Yes, I can," Alice said, nodding.

"Yes, and she could have killed that man because he failed in his mission to kill Bella, only managing to hit the car tire. Bella was not even grievously injured. That would get her mad. Sorry Bella, " Ziva said, casting an apologetic look towards me.

I waved her off, smiling at her to show that I understood that she had not meant to make me feel bad by what she had said.

"Yes, and that could make her more dangerous. Bella, you will not be without supervision. I want one vampire with her at all times." Gibbs said.

"I can stay with Bella," Alice said. "Edward and Carlisle have just joined the hospital yesterday, so they can't not show up without it looking suspicious, and the others could help look for Victoria. Edward and Carlisle could join them once their shifts are done."

"And I will accompany them," Penny said.

"So that's settled. In the meanwhile, I want us to concentrate on the human aspect of this." Gibbs said looking at all four of us.

"We can try digging up more on Lance Corporal John Smith. There has to be a connection between him and Victoria. And if it wasn't her who got him killed then who was it? And how did Dave get the original murder weapon?" Tony suggested.

"Yes, get to that. Bella, I want you to avoid leaving the building as far as possible. And Alice, you are not to let her out of your sight." Gibbs ordered, before getting up, signalling the end of the meeting.

I was going to be babysat! They could not find Victoria soon enough for me. I hated being restricted like this. I knew it was for my safety but still.

After a chorus of goodbyes, the Cullens and Penny left to try to find Victoria, while the team and I went to the squad room. Gibbs wanted to update Director Vance, and I realized that a lot more people knew about vampires than I originally thought.

We all sat to start working. I was determined to get a breakthrough in this case. The sooner we solved it, the sooner I could be free from the babysitting! And of course, solving the murder in the process! Two birds with one stone… I wasn't asking for too much now, was I?

**A/N : So, how did you find it? What do you think is the connection between Victoria and the Lance Corporal? I would love to hear what you think!**


End file.
